Moving the Stars
by Oparu
Summary: It's summer 1997. Del Douglas is dead and Cole's taking a different tactic to get the jewels. Unfinished and abandoned.
1. Default Chapter

**Moving the Stars**

The characters used in this story are the property of Sunset Beach, NBC and Spelling Entertainment. I've just borrowed them for a little while.

This story starts six months after the start of the show. Del Douglas is dead and Olivia and Gregory have an uneasy truce between them. Cole St. John has not yet arrived in Sunset Beach.

_Part One_

Gregory Richards had run out of prey. By 10:30 that morning, his desk was empty of his paperwork. When lunch arrived his was finishing his work on the financial projections of Liberty Corporations for the next two years. When his exhausted secretary confessed that she couldn't find anything else that he could possibly begin work on, he relented. Giving her the rest of the day off, he set home himself.

He preferred to be at work. Work was orderly and he could control the operations there so everything functioned as a well oiled machine. Gregory didn't notice the beautiful midday sun beaming through the window of his car. If he had, he would have considered it to be a mockery of his mood.

When he was bored his mind wandered. Obsessively, he thought through the chaos of his home. Like the parasitic eel that attaches to the belly of a shark, Olivia was always foremost in his thoughts. Even when he had work, it was hard to chase her from his mind. When work was as scarce as it was today, she tore at the back of his mind. She would be home when the car pulled into the garage.

Since it was already after noon, there was no question in his mind that she would be drunk. Sometimes he wondered what inspired more hatred, the thought of Olivia, or the thought of her drunk.

He exited the car before it reached the garage. Now the sun had its chance to mock him with its cheerful warmth. He lifted his eyes, feeling the sun caress his face as he changed his scowl to a smile. Caitlin might be home. She would appreciate the effort on his part. She often complained he looked to serious.

Still smiling, he circled the house and came in through the back. No one was on the patio. Disappointed, he entered to find no one moving around the living room. The house had the cool feeling of a mausoleum. The bright sunlight from the patio doors crept across the floor only as far as the toes of his shoes. Closing his eyes for a moment, he felt the house of years ago, vibrant with Caitlin's laughter.

Those memories kept the smile faintly on his face as he crossed the living room to his study. He was trying to focus on the memory of Caitlin's baby curls against his cheek when something amiss stopped him in the doorway of his study. Someone was in his sanctuary already.

His chair was turned to the bookshelf, and the occupant apparently had no desire to acknowledge his presence. Intrigued, he prowled around the desk and found Olivia's sleeping form. Frustration boiled up in his stomach. She knew he didn't like her being in here. She had most likely done it on purpose, knowing her intrusion would rouse him into a rage. When all else was lost between them, she clung to any attention he would pay her. Even in an argument.

"I will not have you taunt me Olivia." He promised himself as he reached for her shoulder and stopped before rousing her awake. She held her journal in her lap. Olivia had stopped keeping a journal after the miscarriage. She had threatened to destroy all of her journals in grief, but he had put them away in his study. It was purely sentimental of him to even still have them and he chided himself for allowing that weakness.

Gregory glanced down at the date on his watch, and cursed himself for not remembering this morning. Olivia had been babbling about anniversaries at breakfast, he had paid her no mind, thinking that their anniversary was in November and she must have already been drinking. He watch read June 24th. June 24th was THE anniversary. His quick search of the room confirmed it. No telltale glasses were in sight. Nothing was out of place. She hadn't fallen asleep after a long morning of hard liquor.

Lowering his face to just above her forehead, he found the puffiness of her eyes he had ignored last night. As he searched his memory, he realized that the blue shirt she had on this afternoon, wrinkled as it was now, was the same one she had worn to the art gallery with Caitlin yesterday.

His heart turned traitor on him. The carefully constructed barrier of rage failed him when he realized she must have been awake the entire night. Reading her journals was a slow torturous ritual that she subjected herself to every year. As if the quiet hell that was her life wasn't enough punishment without relieving the past happiness to use in comparison.

The kiss surprised her awake. Gregory only kissed her for appearance's sake and they were entirely alone. Thrown off guard she shut the journal and started out of his chair, "I'm sorry I fell asleep in your office. I know I'm not allowed in without your permission. I won't come in here again." Normally she would have argued with him, but without speaking he kissed her again.

"Gregory-" She started to protest, but his hands closed in from the arms of the chair, resting firmly on her shoulders.

"Let me apologize before you disappear." He requested softly. Olivia waited in the chair and he released her. "I'm sorry I ignored you."

"Just last night? Or is this a blanket apology for the last 20 years?" She didn't mean the words to hurt him. She wanted to start the trade in insults that would let her retreat from his presence as quickly as possible. For a moment, his eyes had taken the black cast that heralded a real fight between them, but then they faded.  
part one, cont "Which would you like?" Came his surprisingly sincere reply.

Olivia wondered what his motive could be for faking the hurt in his eyes. "The former will do. May I leave now?"

Gregory moved aside, allowing her an unblocked path to the door. "You could always leave Olivia."

"You just asked me to stay." She argued back with an icy tongue.

"I appreciate that you did."

Olivia walked past him with her head held high. She had no desire for his games. She heard the chair squeak back into position at the desk. His voice almost made her trip.

"Please." Again, no fight was in his tone. Something told her to turn around. Gregory had his hands in his pockets. The gesture was disarming. His posture admitted defeat.

"What could you possibly want?" Olivia shot back, trying again to start up the volley of insults between them. She had developed a thick skin to his criticisms. This new tactic was entirely disorienting.

Gregory shrugged, resting his hand on the leather back of the chair. "Stay, just for a moment."

Without taking a step in either direction, Olivia stared at her husband. "Why?"

"I don't have any work to do. Maybe you'd stay and talk to me."

Olivia laughed, obviously he was making some sort of cruel joke. "When don't you have work?"

He pulled out the chair to his desk and smiled. "Today."

She took one step towards him and faltered. "We don't talk. We fight, we scream at each other. We have sex. We don't talk."

"I'd like to try today."

"What is your game Gregory?" Olivia took two steps this time before she stopped. "Do you think this is all it takes between us? Do you think that I'll melt because you have something sweet to say to me?" Another step. "Is there some party you need me to escort you too?" She closed the distance between them and paused furious just in front of his desk.

"I know. You've decided to run for mayor and you need me to say how much I love you to the whole town, so our charade can be a play for all of Sunset Beach." Olivia's hands shook as she gestured towards him disdainfully. "You think you can just name your price and I'll fall into your plan. All right, you've got my attention now. Lay out your terms and I'll tell you what it will cost you."

"Olivia, I took advantage of you earlier." He gestured to the chair and invited her to sit down. She shook her head. Gregory sighed and continued to speak. "I never should have kissed you without your consent."

She started laughing again. "You haven't asked to kiss me in years. I'm your wife, your live-in sleeper. You don't ask, you take whatever you want, whenever you want. Gregory Richards always has what he wants and you want something right now don't you?"

He nodded slightly. "I'd like to kiss you again."

Olivia was dumbstruck. She opened her mouth once, and then closed it again. "You want to kiss me?"

"Yes, I would like your permission to kiss you."

"No!" She slammed the journal she had forgotten into the desk.

"All right." He paused and moved aside the telephone to sit on his desk. "How was your day Olivia?"

She had hit her knuckle against the desk when she slammed down her hands. Some of the skin was torn and it stung. "What?" She asked with waning anger.

"How was your day?" Gregory repeated patiently as he took her hand and examined her injury.

"Bloody awful-" She fired back, trying to pull her hand free. He put the broken skin in his mouth, and the stinging ceased. "Then worse when you came home. Why do you care?"

"You're not drunk." He remarked softly before drawing her attention to her hand. "This is still bleeding a little." Without releasing her hand, he dug into his desk until he found a bandage. Gregory removed the wrapper and attached it gently to her hand.

"Thank you." She tugged at her hand and he released it. "I didn't want to forget today."

"I'm sorry I did."

"I'll bet you are…" She accused out of habit.

Gregory sighed heavily. "I am sorry Liv. I know you must be tired. I apologize for keeping you."

She turned to go, pausing for a moment in the doorway as Olivia searched for something she wanted to say.

He interrupted her thoughts, but she didn't turn around. "I appreciate you not drinking today."

"I didn't do it for you." She finished curtly. Then she fled his presence, exhausted. Not pausing her steps until she was safe behind the closed door of her room.

Downstairs in his study, Gregory smiled and headed for the warm sunshine of the patio, his mind already hard at work.


	2. Mulling over breakfast

_Part two_

"I shouldn't be laughing." Bette tried to apologize but her smile kept it from having any real effect.

"It's not funny." Olivia protested. "I don't see how my coming down here-"

Bette cut her off- "To tell me that Gregory's acting as mad as a hatter is funny."

"Exactly Bette, that's exactly it." She sank back into her chair, grateful that the outdoor café gave her a reason to keep her sunglasses on.

Her blonde friend waved down the waiter. "Honey, more coffee please." As the waiter carefully filled her mug, Bette leaned back in her chair to study Olivia.

"I guess you just don't see the irony Livy." Bette peaked under the table for a second and ran her eyes over her entire outfit. Shaking her flamboyant pile of curls, she picked up the coffee and blew across the top of it thoughtfully. "Your poster-child status for the neglected wife has suddenly come to an end and you don't know what to do about it."

"How can you tell that?" She asked, fighting between her curiosity and her desire to be annoyed.

"Elaine's coffee is divine." Bette explained as she finished a long sip of coffee. "I have the eye."

"The eye." Olivia repeated mockingly. "All right Bette, what do I look like to 'the eye'?"

"You didn't put any makeup on this morning because you were afraid of smearing it. Your sunglasses cost more then my entire ensemble and even though the morning sun is always bright at Elaine's, you didn't wear them to be health conscious. You pulled your hair back because your hands weren't steady enough to curl it. Your navy suit is too dressy for a meeting with me, but you didn't remember that until you were already out the door. That's why you left your jacket in the car when your driver dropped you off." Bette counted off on her fingers, "Makeup, glasses, hair, suit- what am I missing?"

Olivia started to protest, but Bette pointed at the waffles being placed in front of them. "Patience Livy, take a bite of that and let me finish."

Tapping her thumb to remind herself of the fifth thing jogged Bette's memory. "You wore the suit because he hates it." She ran through her fingers again. "Those are five choices you made this morning. Do you know what they add up to?"

Olivia shook her head, reaching for glass of orange juice. "You are going to tell me aren't you?"

"Gregory scared you yesterday. He did something so totally out of character that he has you terrified. That's why you dragged me out of my bed to meet you for a seven am breakfast." She finished her coffee in a triumphant swig and held it out for the waiter to refill. "Now that I've once again proved my brilliance in the trivial things of life I want you to tell me what he did."

"He asked to kiss me." Olivia admitted softly.

Bette choked half-chewed waffle into her napkin. "He asked?"

"Then he apologized."

"Gregory did what?" Bette clung to her coffee mug, waffle forgotten. "I didn't think he could-"

"He can't apologize." Olivia agreed with a high note creeping into her voice. "Not really apologize." She leaned across the table and dropped her voice to a whisper. "But he meant it. He put this bandage on my hand after I scratched it on his desk. He asked me to stay and talk to him."

"And?"

"And he meant it! He actually wanted just to talk to me." She sat back again, taking off her sunglasses and setting them next to her plate on the glass table. "And when he kissed me something was-"

"You let him kiss you?" Bette butted in.

"No, no I didn't let him. I was asleep when he came home and his kissed me before I could wake up."

"What 'was' about it?"

"I'm not sure." Olivia explained slowly as she tried to think. "I felt something…"

"Something?" Bette asked again. "What kind of something?"

"Something gentle." Olivia finally decided as she took a bite of her waffle. She took the time to swallow it before her epiphany hit her. "My god Bette, he hasn't kissed me like that…"

"For centuries." Bette finished for her, smoothing the front of her vibrant purple blouse. "And you liked it."

"I did not-" Olivia started to protest, but then she had to smile. "I did."

"Most of us only wish men would come home and kiss us awake from our naps." Bette flagged down the waiter for her fourth cup of coffee. As he walked away, she looked at his retreating back and sighed dreamily. "Like that one."

Olivia turned to look at the waiter with a puzzled expression. "That one?"

Bette dropped her fork to her plate and started laughing. "One kiss and you temporarily stop noticing other men. If all men had Gregory's powers I might still be married."

"What his game Bette? What does he want from me?"

Bette took several bites of her waffle before she bothered to reply at all. "Let's see. He has money. Power. Both of his children are around to control and we both know how fond he is of doing that. Ben said Liberty Corp is looking at its most profitable year ever. You've never been able to keep your hands off of each other, even when you want to kill each other." She gave an exaggerated sigh. "I think, as difficult as it may be to believe, he may still love you and to top it off, he decided he wants to do something with that love."

Olivia took a very slow breath and started to fidget with the bandage on her hand. "He can't- We've done so much to each other."

"You and Gregory may be in the running for cruelest couple of all time, but that doesn't mean you don't-"

"I don't-"

"Still love him." Bette finished for her and reached across the table to pat her hand gently. "Uh-huh. You keep telling yourself that Livy."

The handsome waiter politely interrupted them both. "Are either of you Bette?"

"You'd better believe it." The blonde replied as she smiled up at him. "What can I do for you gorgeous?"

"I've a phone call for you at the desk."

"Hang on for a second kiddo." She assured Olivia as she got up, teasing the waiter as she went. "If he's as good-looking as you are, I'll be a lucky woman."

Bette disappeared into the darkness inside the restaurant. Olivia leaned towards the windows, but the glare kept her from seeing anything. She could hear talking. Bette's flirtatious tone carried across the patio along with her laughter. She returned shortly with a mysterious smile.

"Where's your purse Olivia?"

Surprised, she searched the table and the ground beneath it. "I don't know." She discovered sheepishly.

Bette slid easily back into her chair. "In your mad dash out of the house you left your purse in the bedroom. Gregory was concerned, but then Rose said you were with me. And he knows we always come to Elaine's for breakfast."

"Gregory called you?"

Bette finished the last bite of her waffle and gave Olivia a naughty smirk. "Maybe he didn't want to frighten you."

"Wait a minute, he said actually said concerned?" Olivia echoed with disbelief.

"Sounded like he meant it too." Bette shivered appreciatively. "I have always loved a good romantic comeback."

Olivia ignored her. "Did he call from the office?"

Bette glanced at her watch and clucked her tongue. "No, and it's already 8am. He must be pretty distracted to be running that late." She reached into her purse for her checkbook. "Since you're missing yours, I guess this is on me."

"I'm sorry Bette." Olivia stammered quickly. "I don't know how I could have forgotten."

She patted her friend's shoulder as she headed up to pay. "You can owe me one."

Olivia grabbed her sunglasses as she left the table and followed Bette to the front of the restaurant. "He sounded concerned?"

Bette left the tip in the jar on the counter and winked at the young waiter. "I even believed him."

"What do I say to him Bette?" Olivia caught her hand as they headed out back into the sunshine. "What does he want?"

"He wanted to see if he should drop by with your purse."

"What?" Olivia stopped walking. "He thought he should 'drop by'?"

"I'm half inclined to call him back and have him pick us up." Bette said as she shaded her eyes and looked for the Richards' Mercedes and driver. "Without your cell I don't think we're going to get your driver to bring us home."

"Let's walk."

Bette chuckled. "You're serious?"

"It's a lovely morning after all." Olivia put her sunglasses back on and gave her friend a feeble smile.

Nodding quickly Bette pointed down the street. "I get it. After the hour it will take us to get back up to One Ocean Avenue, your darling hubby will certainly be at work and you won't have to face him."

"I haven't the slightest idea what you're talking about. I'm just suggesting we get some exercise." Olivia started down the mostly empty street.

Bette took a few quick steps to catch up. "Olivia Richards does not walk home from breakfast."

"She's going to today." She answered defiantly.

Shaking her head Bette smiled impishly. "It'll be in that hussy's gossip column. The Queen of Ocean Avenue slumming with the common folk."

"She does not call me that." Olivia argued indignantly.

Still nodding Bette's smile flashed into a grin. "Joanie Hartwell's been calling you that since she started at the paper. Don't you ever read it?"

"No." She said quickly. "And now I'm glad I don't."

"You aren't missing anything. Joanie doesn't know gossip when it comes up and bites her in the tushie."

Olivia laughed lightly. "Didn't you apply when the paper had the opening?"

Shaking her head, Bette thought for a moment. "No, I didn't need the work at the time."

"You'd be good at it." Olivia offered honestly as she let her hair down from its clasp. As Bette watched her, she explained herself. "It's still wet, might as well let the sun do some of the work for me."

"Gregory likes it better down." Bette teased effortlessly. "But that has nothing to do with it."

"I assure you, Gregory is the last thing on my mind."

That broke her friend into a fit of giggles. "If you say so Livy, if you say so."

"Can we please talk about something else?" Olivia begged softly. "Anything else?"

They walked in silence for nearly a block before Bette piped up, "Gregory has the most gorgeous eyes, for a man-eating shark that is, but I still can't get over the coldness of them."

This time Olivia chuckled, "I've never seen him eat anyone."

"Sharks are solitary feeders." Bette explained coolly. "I saw that on the Discovery Channel."

"The proper place of learning after all." Olivia teased and Bette's thoughts hit on a conversational topic.

"Speaking of learning, what's Caitlin planning for fall semester? Another year at good old Sunset College of Liberal Arts?"

Olivia ran her fingers through her hair, spreading it so the sun could dry it on her shoulders. "She's thinking about UCLA. Her grades were excellent last year and she's mentioned going to law school."

"Daddy's footprints?" Bette wondered aloud as they walked past a series of shops just starting to open.

"I wish she wouldn't." Olivia finally settled her hair and shared her concerns. "I don't think she has the stomach for it."

"Not all lawyers are blood-thirsty sharks Olivia." Bette reassured her as she paused to look at a rather gorgeous sequined gown in the window next to her. "I was married to one who was quite respectable."

"Good old Charles."

Bette shook her head one last time at the dress and continued walking. "Not my color."

"It's not bright enough for you." Olivia agreed, watching with interest as group of young women pretended not to be looking at them. "Do you know them?"

After peering around Olivia's shoulder Bette shrugged, "Can't say that I've seen them before." She spent another few moments in nonchalant study of the group. "They look about Sean's age. Maybe they recognized you."

"Bette, stop looking at them. I don't want them to know we've noticed." They stepped up their pace slightly.

Glancing down at her watch, Bette showed it to her companion. "We've only been walking twenty minutes. It's longer then I thought it would take."

"I didn't know my life was the business of the entire town." Olivia replied defensively. "I wish they'd just leave us alone."

"Not with this upcoming show." Bette pointed out as a Mercedes with darkened windows pulled up the curb just ahead of them. "Joanie might even make the third page with this for tomorrow."

Gregory climbed out of the car with a surprisingly pleasant smile. "Hello, I was just on my way out and I thought I'd try to find you and drop your purse off." He crossed quickly to Olivia and paused taken aback by way her untouched hair hung softly about her face. "You look lovely this morning."

He handed her the purse, pausing as their hands touched. "Did you do something special with your hair?"

Gregory's fingers caressed hers gently and she couldn't help wondering why he would notice her hair. Her appearance was nothing more than a status symbol to him, wasn't it? Olivia took the purse and set it over her shoulder as she ignored the compliment. "Thank you. I suppose you're off to work?"

Gregory reached for her arm and folded it into his before she had time to resist. "Not today, I couldn't go to work like this anyway."

He gestured towards his outfit and Bette piped up her agreement. "The interns would be a little confused if their boss showed up in jeans."

Olivia hadn't noticed the jeans, but as Gregory snuggled closer to her she felt the fabric brush against her hand as she touched his hip.

"Whatever you did to your hair smells lovely." He complimented easily as the driver exited the car for his instructions. "I think I'll walk with Olivia for awhile."

Bette saw her way out. "I think I'll beg a ride back to the beach house then. Annie needs a shopping buddy to make sure she leaves herself enough to cover the rent."

Olivia opened her mouth to protest, but Gregory was too quick for her. "By all means Bette, thank you for letting me steal my wife from you."

And then she was trapped. Gregory slipped his arm firmly around her back and waited for her to find the words to say good day to her traitorous friend.

Bette flashed them both a brilliant smile and let the driver escort her to the idling Mercedes. "I'll be seeing you around Livy. Remember you owe me one for breakfast."

She nodded dumbly as Gregory waved off the car. Olivia tried not to think about the warmth of his hand through the thin fabric of her blouse. Gregory leaned in to kiss her forehead. "Now that we've the whole day together, whatever should we do with ourselves?"


	3. Fate's intent

_Part three_

Gregory's eyes were never off of her. They went into the dress shop off of the strip of high-end stores lining Palm Avenue. He hadn't even given her a reason to stop into the shop, but as soon as they were in he was charming the tight-lipped saleswoman. Even when she was explaining the finer points of the differences between silks from Europe and the Orient, Gregory's attention was only half on her.

Olivia tried to act naturally, but she had entirely forgotten how to act in this situation. Whenever she spent more the a few moments looking at a dress or a pair of shoes, Gregory was there, questioning the color, fingering the fabric at the hemline or asking her to hold it up to her face so he could see if he liked the neck.

He had no small knowledge of the dressmaker's craft. Gregory had taken up the habit of dressing her for all formal occasions they attended in the most lavish creation he could find. As frustrating as it was, she had always looked beautiful. Bette had even taken to joking that Gregory would do her hair himself as long as Olivia was the beautiful creature he wanted on his arm through a party.

Olivia had grown accustomed to his stern ways of managing her. She hadn't thought it a serious habit until he asked her opinion and she froze, staring at both him and the saleslady as if they had both suddenly turned blue. Her non-opinions had been carefully calculated to annoy Gregory as little as possible, and now that he cared, she was lost. She was lost whenever he ran his hand comfortingly across her back.

While they discussed unique creations with the dressmaker his hand had become entangled in her hair. When he freed it with a sly grin he had kissed her cheek and again commented that he liked it down. He liked the freedom it represented as her hair ran wavy down across her neck. By the time Gregory and the saleswoman were discussing the fine points of a silk gown he wanted to import from somewhere across the Pacific Ocean, she was almost trembling every time he touched her. She couldn't help it. No conscious amount of control could compete with the sheer intoxicant of his complete focus on her.

When he wrote the initial down payment for her gown, she found her hand tucked in the back pocket of his jeans. She hadn't meant for it to be there. Olivia had intended to stay as far away from intimacy as possible, but her body was starting to have other ideas. The soft chocolate of the polo shirt he was wearing wasn't helping in the slightest. Whenever he was near, which seemed to be a constant occurrence, the fabric of his shirt carried the hint of his cologne.

This level of continual flirtation was worse then being drunk. The uncompromising chemistry between them was raging at full force and Olivia was suffering from a very low tolerance. Even Del at his most charming had nothing on the new sensitivity that infected every nerve of her body.

Her heart was fluttering in her chest when Gregory decided they needed to stop for lunch. He made another two appointments with the saleswoman. Olivia's dress would be in next week for fittings and she wasn't sure if she could even describe what it looked like. Gregory led her out of the air conditioning into the sunshine and she sighed in relief. "Grenadine's?" He ventured cheerfully. "We can't have you passing out from hunger. It's nearly one o'clock already."

Olivia found her voice as she eyed his less then formal attire. "I'm not sure if Grenadine's would approve of the informal you."

Gregory burst into a good-natured chuckle. She couldn't even catch the steel in his eyes as he smiled at her. "All right Liv, something a little less formal it is. Come on."

With his fingers entwined in hers like a happy child's, Gregory led her out of the prestigious Palm Avenue District. They crossed Ocean Avenue and descended to the Harbor market district. The buildings grew taller and the elegant street lamps a little more utilitarian. Gregory finally stopped his journey in front of a hole-in-the-wall café run by a short fisherman with a life's history of lines across his face. "Best kippers in town."

Before she could really reply, or question his choice in lunch. He took them inside and seated her in the bright red wooden chair across the table from his own. As Olivia settled the purse in her lap, a bent old woman brought glasses of water and asked them to order.

"We'll just need a minute," Gregory explained as he noticed Olivia's confused expression. "The menu's above the grill window. I suggest the buttered snapper."

"I'm don't care what you get, as long as it comes quickly." As the old woman returned their way Gregory took the initiative and ordered. Olivia searched her purse for her datebook in order to write down the fittings before she forgot. She looked up in amazement as both Gregory and the old woman lapsed into an easy banter in German. She often bore the brunt of his teasing for her knowledge of French and Spanish, and she had heard his tales of the language lessons required for his special expertise in international litigation, but he never used his skills around her.

Their elderly waitress laughed at Gregory's joke and patted him on the head as she headed back to the kitchen. Olivia shook her head in amazement. "What have you done with my husband?"

"It was time to get rid of him." He answered with a faint smile as he reached across the table to take her hand. "He wasn't what you needed."

She pulled back on her hand subconsciously, even her body unsure if she wanted to trust him. "What do I need Gregory?"

His face broke into a knowing smile. "What's that line you like?" He rested his head on his chin a moment and then affected a southern accent. "You need to be kissed, and often, by someone who knows how."

Olivia's blush was immediate. "I hope you don't consider our relationship as tragic as the film."

"I think they had a choice. They could stay together, no matter how painful it was and work towards the future." That cold fire of his eyes burned through the few feet between them. "Or they could give up and walk away, leaving both of them empty forever."

"Empty?" She echoed softly, ignoring the plate of food that had been set between them.

Gregory's fingers traced the fine bones of the back of her hand. "Sometimes fate intends for two people to be together, even when the all the odds seemed stacked against them."

Olivia stared down at the basket of bread, but he tilted her chin back up to look at her. "Not everything can be written into the stars Gregory. Sometimes love is just two foolish people who haven't learned that all they have left is pain."

He pulled her even closer, standing up in his chair to make their faces just centimeters apart. "I'd change the universe for you Liv." She closed her eyes tightly against the flood of emotion, and Gregory kissed her cheek just to the right of her lips.

And he would, Olivia thought to herself as she tried to ignore the urge to turn her head to meet his lips. He sat back, but brought her hand up so he could continue to kiss some part of her. She took a forced breath to calm herself. "We're not talking about the "Gone with the Wind" anymore are we?"

He kissed the soft skin on the inside of her wrist, and left a tingling sensation to run up her arm as he released it. "Maybe we never were." He picked up a piece of bread and started to butter it nonchalantly.

"I can't do this." Olivia protested weakly as she rubbed at her wrist.

Feigning confusion, Gregory held the piece of bread he had just taken a bite out of across the table to her. "It's really quite simple. You open your mouth and let your teeth come together. Finish the bread and you can move on to the fish." He gestured to the smoked salmon and took in the smell. "It is really is quite excellent here."

"Gregory-" She protested again, losing some of her indignation to the teasing smile on his face.

He brought the bread back to his plate and set it down. "I would like to have lunch with you. If lunch is all we can have between us now, I will be content with that." Gregory's eyes were so fixed on hers they were almost painful.

Olivia studied him for a long moment before responding softly. "I believe you about lunch."

Gregory chuckled dryly before becoming serious once more. "But you can't tell me that's all we will ever have Olivia."

"What do we have?"

"Smoked salmon, bread, cheese, butter, kippers and coffee." He pointed to each one as he named it off.

She shook her head in exasperation as she decided to give up and start eating. "You know what I-" Olivia broke off as her knife hit the floor and bounced with a dull clink.

She leaned under the table and found no sign of it. When she popped back up again, she watched Gregory wipe it off on his napkin. "You don't have to do that."

He pointed the handle towards her and let her reclaim it. "I love you Olivia."

Her knife hit the floor once again, but this time she was too taken aback to reach for it. The rush of heat to her face was immediate and desperate to get away to collect herself, she stood up. "Excuse me."

Gregory watched the instantaneous flood of color to her face as she fled to the bathroom in the rear of the café and waited for her to be out of sight before he smiled. Patiently, he retrieved her knife, wiped it off again and set it next to her plate. He reached for the coffee pot and her cup. Without anyone to notice, he took a tiny paper packet out of his pocket and dumped it in the bottom of her cup. He added a small amount of coffee and stirred until all of the powder dissolved. He finished filling her cup, stirred it a few more times and took a tiny sip. Tasting nothing, he smiled and replaced her cup on the other side of the table.

Then he turned his attention towards the smoked salmon and waited.

Olivia shut the door and slammed the bolt into the lock. She leaned against the sink and tried to collect any amount of self control. Her heartbeat was painfully loud in her ears. "You love…" She echoed without hearing her own voice.

"You can't." She argued back, but she knew the futility of it. Gregory had snuck his way around her careful barriers yet again. She was completely vulnerable to him, and he knew it. He had to suspect the effect he had on her. How couldn't he know his own powers? But he seemed so sincere. No posturing, no demands, just-

"He loves you." She repeated to herself and posed it as a question to her own heart. "Do you…?"

She searched her expression in the mirror, but it only took a few seconds to realize what her answer was.

A few moments later Olivia was back at the table across from him, letting him put cream into the coffee he had poured for her.

"Are you all right?" He wondered politely as he handed her the cup.

She tried to keep a girlish grin for completely conquering her self control as he brushed her cheek with a caress. "I'm starting to remember what 'all right' feels like."

Gregory smiled in satisfaction, "Good, now try this salmon." He lifted a fork across towards her, "I'll see if I can dredge up those memories for you."

This time he needed no permission to kiss her as Olivia took the initiative.

When they finally returned home it was just after sunset. Gregory excused himself to return a phone call he had missed. "I'm afraid I can't afford to play hooky the entire day." He found her ear under her hair and teased it for a second with his teeth. "Even though I want to."

Olivia's heart was racing again as he left her to watch the sun slip behind the waves. It wasn't until the darkness lay all around her that it slowed to normal.

Gregory shut the door and turned his chair to face the wall before he sank into it to return his phone call. The long connection time was to be expected with an international phone call, but he had no patience for it tonight. He wanted to go back to the patio, to sneak up behind Olivia and devour her neck.

The gruff accent on the other end reminded him that Olivia's skin would have to wait, at least a little while. "Richards! Good of you to call me back."

"Anything for a friend as old as you Baxter."

That drew a laugh from the other end of the phone. "Need I remind you that our birthdays are only a week apart?"

"It was the longest week in history, or have you forgotten in your advancing years?" Gregory replied with deep sarcasm.

More chuckling was his reply. "Down to business I suppose then. Did you start the powder?"

"She didn't even know it was there. No taste at all, just as you promised."

"I didn't spend all those years in Pre-Med for nothing Richards," Dr. Roger Baxter assured him dryly. "Just because you couldn't tell your vena cava from your aorta doesn't mean that some of us don't know our way around the human body."

Gregory dove deeper into the banter. "Should I mention how many times around? Or leave that until you arrive?"

"In person is always more fun." Roger insisted. "It's no good to poke at you unless I can see your face when I hit a mark."

"Next week then?" Gregory asked easily.

"I wouldn't miss a Richards party for the bloody world. Just make sure Caitlin knows how much you disapprove of Ethan. She'll never go for him if you mention how much you like him."

"After my daughter's fallen to your son's charm and wit, I can begrudgingly start to let him impress me." Gregory agreed with a smile.

"Exactly that. Caitlin's worth twenty of the gold-diggers after him here." Roger replied with amusement, but after a pause he took on a more serious tone. "You have to wait until the third day. Watch for blurred vision or a slight fever, and just tell Olivia she must have come down with something. Then you can play doctor until she feels better."

Gregory ignored the innuendo. "But it will work?" He asked quietly.

"I'll give you better odds then beating me in a hand of baccarat." Baxter offered certainly.

Gregory chuckled, "Since I always win, I'll believe you."

"Can't argue with that can I?" Baxter admitted good-naturedly. "See you at the ball Richards?"

"Next Friday it is, bring your good tuxedo." Gregory started to hang up the phone, but Baxter stopped him.

"Wait, Richards, is that sister of Del's coming?"

Surprised, Gregory stopped for a moment. "Bette is Olivia's best friend, I'll make sure of it."

"Good, keep her close. I've been missing her smile." The line clicked off and Gregory hung up the phone.

For a few minutes he enjoyed the dark solitude of his study. Baxter was confident and Olivia was completely unsuspecting. Agreeing to help Caitlin find out how charming Roger's son Ethan could be would be worth it if it kept her away from the unsavory characters that usually took a liking to her. If Bette ended up part of the Roger's price, she wouldn't be an expensive addition. Roger could be quite charming when he wanted to be and Bette never did tire of a good fling. Maybe they would even end up being good for each other.

Not that it mattered anyway. In three days Olivia would be inescapably tied to him forever, and with her at his side again, everything else would fall within his grasp.


	4. Harvard Law Review 1974

_part four_

**Warning: this part contains sexual situations and innuendo**_  
_

"Roger Baxter used to walk your mother home from the hospital." Gregory explained patiently as Caitlin paged through the dressmaker's portfolio open on the desk in his study. "She worked nights and neither Bette or I felt safe with her walking home by herself. Luckily Roger was able to change his schedule to keep an eye on her."

"Weren't you jealous daddy? Mom said he was an incredibly charming young man." Caitlin wondered as she started arranging her favorites in front of her. The various sketches held lightly in dainty fingers.

"Oh no. I never had anything to be worried about between Roger and your mother." Gregory replied with a quiet smile. "Roger, Del and I had an understanding between us."

Caitlin looked up from the dresses with great amusement. "An understanding?"

"We were quite a boy's club back then." Gregory went to the door and shut it before turning to the bookcases in search of something. "Now, none of this gets back to your mother, but I have some pictures if you'd like to see us."

"I love to!" She announced enthusiastically and then put a finger across her lips and smiled impishly. "I promise I won't say a word."

"Good. I know I can trust you to keep a secret Caitlin," He ran his finger across the rows of old law books until he found his quarry. "Here it is."

Caitlin looked at the dusty volume skeptically. "Harvard Law Review from 1974?"

"That's what it says it is." Gregory blew dust of it and shook his head nostalgically about his old cleverness. "However-" He felt along the pages on the side for the hidden catch. The book clicked open softly and Caitlin raised an eyebrow at her father. "Never judge a book by its cover."

The large book opened to reveal a carefully hidden hollow inside. Old black and white photographs almost filled the box, but a smaller wooden box lay in the bottom right corner. Caitlin's attention went right to the pictures and Gregory grabbed and stuck the old box into his jacket without her noticing.

After a few shots of cars and women in expensive old dresses, she found one of three young men in tuxedos, posing debonairly on the pier. The wickedly grinning man with the top hat was obviously Del Douglas. Ever since he had died, Del had been a subject of quiet hatred from her father, so she looked quickly away. Gregory was obviously the young man on the right, the one who seemed to be looking through the camera at something else far away without a trace of humor. That left the center man as the mysterious Roger Baxter. Unlike his dark-haired friends, he was nearly blonde and smiling in a way that suggested he knew her deepest secrets.

"You were all so handsome!" She announced with delight as she looked through the stack of photographs. "But you look so serious daddy. Look at this," she pointed out as she searched through the stack, "You only smile a few times in all of these pictures, but Del and Roger seem to be always laughing."

"They were always finding the fun in everything." Gregory admitted with a gentle smile. "I'm afraid I was rather dull when I was young. Roger used to joke that they just kept me around to remind them to have fun."

Caitlin studied her father, holding up the old picture for comparison. "You're still handsome daddy. There's something sweet behind your eyes," She smiled, but looked at her father as if she were seeing him in a new light. "But something sad as well." She searched his face, finding the quiet of his youth lost to the newer lines of his face. Reaching up, she messed up his hair and looked for the young man in the picture.

"I think you look sadder now daddy."

He took her hand and held it gently for a second, before releasing her and pointing to her neat array of dress patterns. "That's enough of boring you with old stories. Why don't you tell me which dress you've picked out for the party?" As Caitlin switched easily into a debate between her three favorites, Gregory's hurt surprised him as it insisted on making its presence known in the stinging of his eyes.

He paid little attention to Caitlin's decision making process and instead let her talk it out by herself. Thoughts of Olivia's hand-embroidered silk teased him momentarily, she would look ravishing. Maybe that would be the moment to seduce her, tomorrow when she tried the dress on for the first time. After all, tomorrow was the third day. Her second dose had been mixed in with her tea after dinner, but so far none of Roger's list of tell-tale signs had occurred. Gregory would need to keep her close tomorrow.

Preventing her from going to the Radio station would be an obvious goal. Maybe he should offer to take her down the shore, or up into the mountains. Just the two of them…

"I think this is it Daddy," Caitlin set all the other designs aside, and lifted up a pale blue-green chiffon. "It looks like a fairy made it."

He patted her shoulder and nodded appreciatively. "I'll send you with your mother to the dressmaker, and she'll get it done before the party."

She kissed his cheek in cheerful gratitude. "Thanks daddy. I'll look forward to it." Caitlin put all the dress patterns away and looked at the old photographs once more as Gregory stacked them up to put them back into their hiding place.

"There are a lot of pictures of mom in here too." She remarked mischievously. "Mom and Del, mom and Roger, mom and Bette-" Caitlin had go all the way to the bottom of the pile to find a picture of her parents together. "How long did it take you to ask her out?"

His chuckle held honest surprise. "She avoided me for a long time. It took me quite awhile to get her to talk to me."

"It seems just like mom to play hard to get." Caitlin decided as she set the pictures back into the old book. "Can I keep this one of you?"

Gregory nodded, touched that she wanted to keep his picture from 25 years ago. "Your mother thought I was too good for her. I was a hotshot in law school. All I thought about was my work, the next big case, the next big break-" He sighed and shut the book to hide it away again. "Your mother saved me from that. From the time I first danced with her, she became everything I thought about. Olivia and the family we'd have someday."

"What went wrong?" Caitlin asked softly, her face entirely sympathetic.

"We grew apart." Gregory explained as he wondered if the regret he portrayed for Caitlin's sake actually had a real place in his heart. "We stopped helping each other, and started doing as much damage to each other as we could."

Her heart ached for her parents. In the earliest of her memories her parents were epic and wonderful in their love for each other, but everything after that was a nightmare of drunken fights and screaming. "It was awful when you two fought." Emboldened by her father's new honesty, Caitlin asked the question she had asked herself for years. "Why didn't you just get divorced?"

Gregory shrugged, sinking into his desk chair and pretending to be on the verge of tears. "Sometimes, even though you can't stand to be with someone anymore, the thought of being without them is still unconceivable. Even though I couldn't look at her without wanting to tear her apart, not looking at her ever again was too horrible to bear."

Caitlin's hug was warm and full of loving sympathy. Gregory relaxed into it, reminding himself that Caitlin's devotion would only increase as he stitched his relationship with her mother back together. "You should tell her what you told me." She suggested finally as they drew apart. "Mom needs to hear that from you."

Gregory reached in his pocket for his handkerchief and made sure Caitlin saw his tears before he hid them away with a perfectly performed tender smile. "Maybe someday I'll tell her. First, I have many years of mistakes to make amends for. My distance from you and Sean when you were children, the way I've always hidden my feelings from Olivia-"

Caitlin hugged him again, "I'm so proud of you daddy."

He patted her back and allowed himself a moment of happiness before he slipped back into the act. "I hope I can earn your faith in me Caitlin."

A gentle rap on the door surprised Caitlin and she turned to open it. Gregory silently rejoiced, Olivia's timing couldn't have been better. As Caitlin opened the door, he made an weak effort to again dab false tears from his eyes before folding away his handkerchief.

Olivia was surprised nearly speechless to see Gregory trying to hide his tears. Gregory didn't cry. It wasn't in his nature; he would never allow himself that weakness. Not in front of Caitlin, and most definitely not in front of her. At least, Gregory as he had been before two days ago. There seemed to be no end to this Gregory's surprises.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, I was just going to wish you goodnight." Olivia explained when she found her voice. Caitlin hugged her mom and quickly planned her escape. She had seen the way they were looking at each other tonight, and she couldn't help thinking that a little time alone together might be just what they needed.

"We were just talking about the party. I'm going to go with you to the dress shop tomorrow and I'll tell you all about it then. I've just remembered I'm going to the movies with Sean and I don't want to miss him at the Deep." Her words tumbled out in a rush, and both of her parents caught the transparent lie. Neither of them let any of their suspicion show as they wished her goodnight.

Caitlin grabbed her purse and headed for her car. She had to find Sean. He would never believe that their dad would actually cry over mom. He didn't even believe dad could have feelings at all. Maybe now she could get through to him, to finally help him believe that even their family had a chance at being happy.

Gregory read the play of Olivia's emotions on her face as she watched Caitlin pull away from the house. She was confused, deeply so, and his performance had been just convincing enough to bring another layer of the wall between them crashing to the floor. He reached out to her, startling her as he pulled her close enough to kiss her cheek. "Thank you for coming to say goodnight." Gregory started to duck back into his study, but she caught his arm.

"I-" She struggled for a moment internally, and finally she had to look away from his face entirely. "I had too." Olivia admitted softly. "I wanted to thank you."

"Thank me?" He looked utterly perplexed. "Thank me for what?"

Olivia ran her hand through his hair, hundreds of old sensations racing through her fingertips as she did. "For spending two whole days with me."

"I thought it was longer." Gregory remarked as he stared at her lips hungrily. "Besides, it isn't over yet, I got Ben to move our meeting back to next week so I don't even have to go to work until Monday."

He took her hand and then tilted his head towards the kitchen. "I was just going to go for a late-night snack. Care to join me?"

She resisted slightly. "I was just going to go to bed. Unlike you, I've a morning meeting at 8 o'clock."

Gregory laughed and pulled her along anyway. "Well if that isn't ironic…" Her turned back and fixed her with a pleading look. "I won't take long. You don't even have to eat anything if you aren't hungry."

Her eyes softened at his insisting, but she wasn't quite ready to acquiesce. "I might be hungry. What were you going to raid from the kitchen?"

Gregory imagined her undressing in the moonlight of their bedroom and licked his lips. "Caitlin's ice cream."

"How do you know about that?" She wondered with a giggle. "I'm not even supposed to know about Caitlin's secret stash."

He gave her a playful smile, "I have my ways, Olivia. The real question is whether or not you want to join me." Gregory watched her resolve melt away in her eyes and knew he was winning. "I missed you." He admitted gently as he looked through to the soul behind her blue eyes.

With that, Gregory had won. Even her body language opened up to him and he saw victory as the rise and fall of her breasts quickened.

Olivia fought the urge to beg him to kiss her with a laugh. "How could you miss me? I spent all day with you."

His hand was like fire as he rested it on her side. Olivia's breath caught in her throat. Gregory congratulated himself on how easy it was to seduce her, as he tried to convince himself that was all he wanted. "It wasn't enough." He whispered, passion making his voice deep. He moved his hand up to her rib cage, and stopped with his thumb just beneath the curve of her breast.

"This isn't about ice cream any more." She confronted him, knowing that the sudden tightness of her stomach had nothing to do with food.

Gregory pulled her closer, wrapping both hands around her hips before sliding them up to the first button of her blouse. As he nimbly undid it, he whispered in her ear. "To be honest Liv, I'm not sure it ever was."

Olivia reached for his head again and pulled it down to devour his mouth. "I'll forgive you." She promised as she reached for his tie. Years of practice had it free in seconds. Not to be out maneuvered, Gregory made steady progress down the line of buttons on the front of her blouse. He reached up to cup her breasts with his hands, but Olivia pulled away from his urgent demands.

"We can't in the living room." She insisted breathlessly. "Caitlin and Sean-"

Undaunted, Gregory pushed her back to the wall by the stairs and started to tease her breasts through the fabric of her bra. She put both hands and his shoulders and tried to sneak away. Desperately, she looked to the second floor. "Upstairs?"

He ran his tongue over her collarbone until a shiver ran up her spine. Gregory followed the line of her neck up to her face and paused while he stared into her liquid eyes. "Want to use the guest bedroom and pretend it's not our house?"

She ran her hands across the waist of his pants until she found his belt buckle. "I think we've done bored lonely housewife and her husband's dashing lawyer enough." Deftly removing his belt and wrapping it around the back of his neck, she kissed him again and slipped from his grasp to head up the stairs. Disappearing into the darkness of the hallway just long enough to finish removing her blouse, Olivia took the advantage and threw it at him. He was a few steps behind her when the silk struck him in the face.

With a playful growl, he balled it up in his hand and took the rest of the stairs two at a time. The door to the master bedroom was shut when he reached it. He fumbled a moment with the knob before bursting in. Olivia's clothes made a neat trail to the bed, one leg of her pants still inside out from her hurried escape.

Gregory's eyes went wide and he dropped her blouse to the floor as he saw her smile seductively up from the pillow. "Don't just stand there." Olivia admonished with her heaviest proper British accent. "Drop your knickers and join me. It isn't polite to keep a lady waiting."

He fumbled with his shoes, and then dropped his pants, belt and tie on the floor next to her clothes. Gregory melted into her with the sheet still between them. Consuming her mouth as his last meal, Olivia broke away from his kisses just long enough to ask him the last question.

"How much do you like your shirt?"

He sat up to rip it open with the satisfying pop of the remaining buttons. Olivia sat up meet his lips again and let the sheet fall away fall away from her nude body so nothing else was between them.


	5. St Andrew's

_part five_

It was raining in Wisconsin, the kind of cold rain that drilled through clothing and got into the bones of a person. The director of St. Andrew's home for the elderly, Dr. Gertrude Smith, was already sick of the rain. She was cold through to her skin as she hung up her dripping coat and headed for the pile of work on her desk.

She shoved it aside for the coroners report in her hand. Nicholas Richards had died of pneumonia early this morning at the age of 76. Though she always hated to see anyone die alone, his death wasn't bothering her the way it should. When her residents died she usually felt like she had lost a friend, this one was different. Gertrude told herself it was all right. It didn't make her any less of a person not to miss the monster that was Nicholas Richards.

Audrey, her head nurse, leaned against the wall and read her boss's mind without asking a question. Nicholas had been her charge since he had arrived. Only Audrey's years of training and her saintly demeanor had made her patient enough to deal with his constant demands.

"Does Mr. Richards even have a next-of-kin listed?" Audrey asked gently, wondering what poor soul was misfortunate enough to be related to him.

"He doesn't have any family listed besides his wife Alice. She's been dead more then twenty years." Gertrude replied with a frown. "We've always received full payment for his treatments and generous donations from an address in California. It says here it's a business address, maybe the police can sort this out for us."

Gertrude picked up the phone and started to dial operator assistance, while she asked for the number of the Sunset Beach police department; Audrey picked up the open file and studied it.

Nicholas Richards had been a resident of St. Andrew's for the last 16 years. Before that he had lived alone. His wife Alice, the only person he ever spoke of with less then contempt, had died of a heart condition in the late sixties. Audrey had worked with Alzheimer's patients most of her life, and she thought she had seen enough heartbreaking stories to no longer be surprised.

Since his admission sixteen years ago, Nicholas was an exception. As the disease ate away at his personality, it seemed to leave only the harshest parts of his soul. Instead of slipping quietly into that good night, Nicholas grew more ornery, more selfish and more arrogant as his disease progressed. During his second year at the home, he had tried to beat a male doctor to death, calling him Gregory as he tried to bash his head in. After that, only female assistants were allowed near him because every young man he saw was 'Gregory'.

"You're still too good for me, aren't you Gregory?" "Always the arrogant son-of-a-bitch aren't you Gregory?" "Gregory's here again to tell his old man how much smarter he is, how much better he is then me."

Audrey heard every insult again and again as Nicholas' mind slipped away. As Nicholas' condition progressed, she became the only person who he would ever speak too at all. Desperately curious to find the identity of 'Gregory' Audrey had once sneaked a look at his dead wife Alice's diaries while Nicholas was sleeping. Reading Alice's words had finally explained that Gregory was their son, Nicholas' only living relative. "The tragic truth of it is that Gregory won't be safe until Nicholas is dead. I know I could never protect him and I only hope someday he manages to forgive me." That thought remained in her mind still; Alice's last thoughts on her sad life.

Audrey brushed a tear out of her eye and shook herself out of her reverie. Dr. Smith hung up the phone and turned to her head nurse with a pained smile. "I thought you'd like to know that we've finally found Gregory. He's in California. The Sunset Beach police station is sending a deputy over now to tell him about his parents."

"Will he come here?" Audrey asked softly as she wondered what she could possibly say to the man who had suffered so much at the hands of his father.

Dr. Smith shrugged and closed the file. "I don't know. We'll have Nicholas cremated and the chapel will keep his ashes until Gregory decides what he wants."

"I wouldn't blame him if he told us to pour him over the dump. I'd even do it personally."

The harsh words from her nurse drew a raised eyebrow from the director of St. Andrew's, but as she thought about it, she nodded in agreement. "I'd go with you."

Gregory Richards was just getting ready to leave when the doorbell chimed brightly. Rose was upstairs, so he answered it to save her the trouble.

The sunshine illuminated the smiling face of Bette, who winked at him as he ushered her in. "I know the punctuality is a surprise, but I've never wanted to be on your bad side. In fact, I never even want to see your bad side."

His smile surprised him a little, but Bette's odd humor was often a little infectious. "I suppose I was a bit short with you when I asked you over."

"I prefer summoned." Bette teased as she patted his shoulder. "But, never with argue with the King if you like your head, that's what I always say."

Gregory suppressed a dry chuckle. The mental picture of him ordering beheadings was oddly appealing; however, that was not the business of the day. "Won't you come in?"

Bette was already to the coffee pot and pouring herself a cup. "Did I ever tell you that your coffee's almost as good as Elaine's?"

"Not that I recall." Gregory poured himself a cup and headed for the study. "I have a proposition for you Bette."

Bette laughed easily and winked at him as she settled into his chair behind the beautiful wooden desk. "I'm flattered, but I make it a point of honor never to take anything from a friend."

"I'll pass along the good news to Olivia." He deadpanned as he pulled over the chair from the corner. Putting them both on the same level, he dropped his voice to his most sincere tone. "It's a business proposition."

Bette took a sip of coffee and waved for him to continue. "I'm listening."

"Joanie Hartwell had to take an extended leave of absence, and I suddenly find myself short a gossip columnist."

Bette choked a bit on her coffee. "What happened to Joanie Hartwell?"

"I guess you haven't seen today's paper." Gregory pointed to his copy of the Sentinel on the desk in front of them, "Third page."

As she exchanged coffee for the article, Gregory watched the emotional progression on her face; curiosity, amusement, indignation, and then quiet mortification as she looked back at him. The headline summed up the spirit of the article. _"Sauced by Seven Am. Olivia Richards is out unadorned and obviously out of her mind"_

Bette whistled quietly. "Which ocean did you throw her in?"

"She must have believed I would never see it. Right after my secretary told her I had read the article, she requested some personal time and was packed up before I came down to her office. "

Bette set down the paper and shuddered. "I would have been too. I can't believe she wrote that."

"Of course, it matters little what she says about me. It's Olivia I worry about. She's worked so hard to overcome her drinking for the children." Gregory turned the paper towards him and coolly looked it over again. "Thankfully, she hasn't seen this. I was going to ask Miss Hartwell simply to print an apology, but-" He set the paper down with a dubious sneer. "She was already gone. Leaving me in a very awkward position I might add."

"What's the contract look like?" Bette asked cautiously while she tried to avoid imagining what Joanie's dismissal had actually been like.

"Since you'd be taking the position as a personal favor to me, I'm willing to add 5 to Miss Hartwell's last salary package, plus both travel and personal expenses. You'd be generously covered under the standard Liberty Medical package as well. You write two columns, one preview on Thursday and a run-down of the weekend's activities on Monday. You will have complete freedom to write whatever you wish, with one small exception."

Bette finished his thought- "Olivia."

"She's never really been comfortable being in the spotlight. I need someone I know will protect her. Someone with tact."

Bette erupted into good-natured laughter. "I know how hard it was to tell me I have tact," she extended her hand across the desk and shook his firmly. "I'll start today."

Gregory smiled and a trace of real warmth crept into it. "Thank you Bette. I'm relieved to have someone with your skill in the subject. Since you're already behind on the research for your first column, I thought I'd give you a head start."

He stood and crossed the drawer at her right hand. Opening it, he pulled out a neatly typed list of names and a gold embossed envelope. "These are the guests for the charity event Ben Evans and I are hosting this weekend and your invitation. If you stop at Liberty's offices, my secretary will give you your company credit card. Don't make me look cheap."

She raised an eyebrow as she read over the guest list. "I'm sure I can come up with something appropriate to wear." She tucked the invitation into her purse and stopped mid-motion as she hit a familiar name on the bottom of the list. Bette looked up at him in shock- "Dr. Roger Baxter? It's not really him? It can't be him, after all these years…"

Gregory shut her purse for her and chuckled dryly. "Roger and his son Ethan will be spending some time in Sunset Beach. He asked about you."

Bette blushed and tried unsuccessfully to regain her composure. The doorbell rang for the second time that morning, and Gregory ignored it, Rose would be downstairs by now. He was still enjoying Bette's surprised silence when Rose cleared her throat to announce a new visitor.

"Detective Torres to see you sir," She explained quietly. Gregory left Bette to find her way out of her fantasy world, as Rose led him to the Detective who stood stiffly near the doorway in his dress blues.

"What can I do for you Detective?" Gregory asked as the Ricardo put out his hand.

"We just received a phone call from a St. Andrew's Nursing Home in Wisconsin. We've been told Nicholas Richards died this morning. My apologies sir," Ricardo had been forced to offer condolences many times in his life and he still wasn't sure what to expect from Gregory Richards. He had seen the man in court and often wondered if he had any real feelings at all.

Bette only needed a moment to recognize Ricardo's voice. She quietly left the study and stopped just behind Gregory's shoulder. The detective's professional courtesy was admirable. She had never heard of Nicholas Richards and thought for a moment he must be a distant relative. Then she noticed the way Gregory's entire posture changed. Every muscle in his back had suddenly become tight under his shirt. His left hand was balled into a fist. She half expected him to break something.

Whatever Ricardo imagined, it was entirely unlike the fierce emotion in Gregory's eyes. A terrifying anger played over his features for a moment, then the room grew cooler as he smiled. "Thank you. That's some of the best news I've had for awhile. Will you come in for a drink?"

Though he was puzzled, none of his confusion ruined Ricardo's professional courtesy. " Thank you sir, but I'm on duty." He reached into his pocket and removed a neatly folded piece of paper. "They left these numbers; one is for the nursing home and the other for the lawyer managing the estate." Gregory ignored him and went for the cabinet to pour himself a drink.

Bette held out her hand and Ricardo gave her the folded part with both numbers on it. "It is real sweet of you to come down here."

Ricardo stared after Gregory, but nodded to Bette out of habit. "All part of the service ma'am."

Bette brushed his chin with a finger and smiled sadly. "Ma'am..."

Ricardo replaced his hat on his head and turned to go. Gregory raised a glass to him and grinned icily again. "I thank you again detective. I'll have a drink for you."

Bette tucked the paper away in her pocket and winked to Ricardo. "Goodnight handsome." The dumbfounded detective escaped back to his patrol car.

Gregory filled a glass for Bette and handed it to her almost gleefully. "Have a drink with me Bette." He sniffed his brandy thoughtfully, "It's a shame I don't have any champagne."

"Isn't that a little excessive?" She asked gently, trying to decide if something had finally snapped in Gregory's predatory mind. "I know sharks eat their own kind, but he was-"

"My father," He downed his brandy and refilled his glass a little higher. "I guess that proves you right Bette, I really am spawned from the loins of the devil." He nudged her hand with his glass. "Drink, drink! I can't celebrate alone."

The eccentric blonde took a sip and made a face, "Can I get a nice merlot?"

Gregory cocked his head to her and laughed as he loosened his tie. "I think there may be some in the basement." Throwing his tie aside he headed for the kitchen entrance. "Rose!"

She appeared instantly in the doorway. "Yes Mr. Richards?"

"Call Grenadines, ask for the crest dining room at seven. We'll need champagne and see if they can get us lobster. Make the reservation for-" He paused to count in his head. "Six. Set out my black Armani and pick something appropriate out for Caitlin, Sean and Olivia as well. Sean will probably be bringing that Tiffany girl, so pick out one of Caitlin's dresses from last year for her." Rose knew better then to argue and scurried out of sight.

Bette decided a sip of her brandy might be a good idea as he turned to her with reckless abandon.

"You will have to join us as well to round out the number," Gregory announced cheerfully. "Feel free to use your new account if you need something new to wear and be there by seven."

Taking the crystal decanter of brandy he headed for the pool, even starting to hum a little as he went. Pinching her nose to drown out the taste Bette finished her drink in a gulp and followed him out to the poolside. "Don't you want to talk about this Gregory?"

Refilling his glass for the third time, Gregory grinned wickedly at her as he perched on the patio wall. "My father broke three of my ribs for 'cheating' when I came home with straight A's in second grade. He broke my nose when I went out for the debate team instead of football in High School. He turned to me and asked if I was happy for what I had done when my mother died of her heart condition during my senior year of high school."

"Nicholas Richards kicked me out of his house the moment I turned eighteen and hasn't tried to contact me since. He's never written me a letter. Not when I graduated at the head of my law school class, not when I married Olivia, not when Caitlin was born. Not even when my son died."

Bette pulled herself up on the wall next to him and wrapped rested her head on his shoulder. "He was a monster Greggy. I'm not saying otherwise, but he was still your father. You must feel something."

"Relief…" He replied softly before setting it down his empty glass on the wall next to him. "He can't hurt anyone anymore Bette." For an instant she saw honest relief in his eyes before he buried it behind a wall of practiced calm. "He's finally in a place where no one else has to listen to the poison of his voice."


	6. Sight

_part six_

Olivia had been politely standing in front of the mirror for over an hour. The heavy embroidery Gregory picked out had to be painstakingly taken up by hand. Relieved that her dress had been much simpler, Caitlin settled back into the velvet chair in the corner and continued paging through the bridal fashions books. Bathed in the warm sunlight from the picture windows in the front of the dress shop, Olivia really looked like royalty, Caitlin thought quietly to herself as she watched her mother smile patiently and turn a tiny increment to left for the hundredth time. Growing up, she had been privy to the constant talk behind her back that came from coming from one of the most recognizable families in Sunset Beach. Sean believed the only way it could be worse was if they were Deschanel instead of Richards, but she loved the Deschanel legend. A man who would build a castle for his true love certainly sounded fantastically romantic to Caitlin.

Bette always said that her father had done exactly that for Olivia when he was young, built her a castle by the sea and promised to love her forever. They were the fairy tale then, both young and entirely star-struck with each other. The wistful melancholy in Bette's eyes when she talked about the old days was proof enough for Caitlin that her parents had loved each other beyond reason once.

Now Gregory seemed to be at it again, throwing a ball for his queen and reminding the whole town why they envied her. Caitlin had hope again. Sean thought she was insane and had spent the better part of last night telling her as much.

* * *

"Dad can't change Caitlin. No matter how much you want him too. He'll always hurt me, and he'll always hate me. That's the way he is. The only one of us he can stand at all is you, and he's made no secret of that." He finished morosely as he threw a rock into the ocean. "Mom and dad don't remember how to love each other. I don't know why you always get your hopes up. You're just going to get hurt this time." 

"You didn't see dad," she protested as she sat down in the sand. "He was crying Sean. Really crying about mom and how much he missed her."

Sean laughed bitterly and started looking for another rock. "Dad can't cry."

"Why can't you trust him?" Caitlin asked softly, looking into the stars and dreading Sean's anger. "People can change as time passes. People can learn from their mistakes."

The second rock skipped on a wave and sank beneath the dark surface. "Dad isn't other people Cate. Sometimes, I wonder if he's a person at all."

"You don't mean that." She argued softly, trying to tell herself it was true. "How can you mean that? He's your father."

"A father is more then the act of giving someone your genes. A father occasionally has to interact with his offspring." He kept his face carefully towards the ocean, but Caitlin knew the look that would be in his eyes. Sean wore his feelings close to the surface, and just like their mother, those feelings were nearly constantly hurt.

She got up and put her arm around the shoulders of her little brother. "Come on. Let's just go home."

Sean shrugged out of her hug. "Home... so we make it just in time for the weekly blowup." Sullen contempt gleamed in his eyes, but he started walking down the beach.

Caitlin followed him in and tried to find a happier subject. "Is Tiffany going to come with you to the ball?"

"Yeah," he replied without turning back to talk to his sister.

Undaunted, Caitlin smiled cheerfully at the back of his head. "Well that will be fun, won't it?"

"I guess."

"That's the spirit. Such optimism!" She jogged to catch up with him.

Sean smiled for a moment and she knew she was finally through to him. The rest of their walk was as peaceful as the sky above their heads. Tiffany was good for Sean, Caitlin decided as the conversation went back to her. She gave him something to look after. Someone who needed him.

The lights in the living room from their house shone across the patio to the beach to paint the sand a warm yellow. Caitlin started up the way towards home first, and when Sean hesitated she reached back a hand to him and they walked on together. She entered the access code at the gate to the patio and was heading towards the house when Sean stopped her suddenly and pulled her down into the hedge around the garden.

Whispering urgently, he pointed towards the house. "Look!"

The glass doors were illuminated from within and the inside of their house was like a silent movie. Gregory appeared at the bottom of the stairs, dressed only in black pajama bottoms. He went purposely across to his jacket. He picked it up from the heap it was in near the door of his study and switched something small from one pocket to the pocket of his pajamas. Then he disappeared into the kitchen.

"What do you think he's doing?" Caitlin whispered curiously.

"I don't know yet," Sean shook his head and moved a piece of brush out of the way of his elbow. "But I don't trust him. Let's see if we can see into the kitchen." He suggested out of the corner of his mouth. Relishing his chance to witness whatever evil his father was up to tonight. They snuck through the dark yard, and from a vantage point on top of the patio wall they could see into the kitchen. Gregory had his back to the window at the stove. He was stirring. Sean was instantly disappointing. Cooking wasn't one of his father's more nefarious crimes. He was ready to give up when the door from the living room opened into the kitchen. Olivia walked up to him and wrapped both of her arms around his naked chest. She only had on a silk dressing gown and Sean was almost embarrassed to look at her as she crossed to the stove.

When he turned to his sister she was suppressing a giggle with a hand across her mouth. "That's pretty bad all right."

Gregory lifted the saucepan and poured it into two mugs on the counter top. Olivia took two containers down from the spice rack as Gregory went into the cupboard for cookies. Then he helped Olivia up to sit on the counter and slipped between her legs as he handed her a mug. She blew on it coyly and wrapped one bare foot around the back of his knee. The red dressing gown slide up her thigh and Gregory's hand followed it.

Caitlin was biting her lip to keep from laughing at Sean's mortified blush. "That's pretty dire all right. It looks like warm milk, cookies and a little midnight make-out session in the kitchen." She climbed down from the wall and headed back towards the beach. "I'm going back down to the water for awhile. They should head back to bed soon-"

Sean shoot her a dirty look and she winked at him as she slipped back into the night. He took another look into the kitchen and shuddered. They were really getting into it now. Gregory had the belt of Olivia's dressing gown in his left hand and both of her hands were intent on pulling his shoulders closer to her.

Sean was more then ready to give up and leave them both some privacy when he saw his father's right hand go to his pocket. He pulled something small out of it and dumped something into Olivia's forgotten warm milk. As Gregory kissed the line of her neck down her shoulder, he stirred it and handed it back to her as he picked up his own.

Having seen nothing, Olivia took it and returned his toast. Their mugs clinked together and laughing they finished the warm liquid and quickly returned to their study of each other's bodies. His father even starting to lay her back on the counter.

Sean stood up so quickly that he bumped his head on the orange tree behind him. Cursing under his breath he stumbled out of the yard to meet Caitlin on the beach.

She was still giggling as she traced the sand between her fingers. "Seen enough?" She teased lightly.

Seeing her innocent glee, Sean's intentions to tell her what he had seen melted away. Maybe he hadn't seen anything. "Yeah."

"I'm right aren't I?" She teased cheerfully. "They looked like they were enjoying themselves."

For Caitlin he shoved all his misgivings about his father's strange behavior out of his mind. Maybe he was really just too suspicious. Maybe his father really could be trusted to love his mother. Maybe was an uncomfortable word.

* * *

Olivia's head hurt. The ache had been building for the last hour as they pinned up the hem of her dress. She looked at herself in the mirror and tried to forget about as she studied the glorious dress. Gregory's taste was still extraordinary. The dress was tight to her waist and chest without being uncomfortable. The corset left a neat line of cleavage and the deep blue of the dress made her skin look porcelain and elegant. The trouble causing embroidery began just above her hips and swept like trails of silver mist down to the full sweep of the skirt. 

Gregory had left the dress without straps, promising to find something suitable to put around her by the time of the party. She ran her fingers across the base of her throat and wondered what necklace he intended for her. Her fingers were cool and she let them rest there. The dress had started to become confining, and she could see the flush starting in her cheeks. It was definitely getting warmer, but maybe it was just the afternoon sun creeping through the windows

Sensing they were almost done, Caitlin went to the huge mirror and fingered part of the skirt wistfully. "It really is lovely mom."

"Your father knows what he likes." Olivia started to pile her hair onto her head, but stopped when the reflection she was watching became distant and blurry for a moment. She blinked and it improved momentarily.

Concerned, Caitlin helped her mother down from the stool. "Fading out on me?"

Smiling carefully Olivia tried to focus her eyes on her daughter's face. "Just a little sick of standing..."

Caitlin started to speak, but she broke off to answer her cell phone. While she talked, Olivia and the seamstress went to the dressing room, to get the dress off and carefully back to its hanger. Olivia pulled on her clothing, taking her moment alone to wonder why her reflection seemed so out-of-focus in the mirror in front of her.

Caitlin finished her call and was waiting for her. "Daddy wants to take us to dinner, he sent the car to pick us up so we can get ready."

Nodding to the saleswoman as they left the store, Olivia stopped with the railing of the stairs in her hand, enjoying the cooler breezes from the ocean. Caitlin kept up a pleasant chatter about wedding dresses she had liked and what she thought the groom would have to be like to match them.

Running her hand through her dark hair, surprised Olivia with its dampness. Something was going on with her, she spent a second on hoping it would disappear before Gregory's grand ball, as she took her water bottle from her purse. Though warm, it tasted faintly of lemon and helped a little with the heat she was feeling. Making a mental note to thank Gregory for thoughtfully putting it in her purse that morning, Olivia sat on the bench near the street and listened to Caitlin's gentle enthusiasm. It was nice to sit there and forget about everything but her daughter's wedding dreams.

By the time the car finally came, her water was gone and her hands were damp with sweat. She folded them into her lap and leaned against the cool glass of the car window. After the heat of the outside, the air conditioning of the car was frigid in comparison. Reaching for the climate controls, Olivia turned off the AC and tried to concentrate on the scenery.

"Did your father say what the occasion was?" She asked during a lull in Caitlin's cheerful banter.

"Something about a celebration." Caitlin shrugged, " It must be something good, Bette and Tiffany are both coming."

Relieved by the promise Bette's presence, Olivia let herself relax. Whatever Gregory wanted to celebrate must be something that made him nearly giddy if he was allowing Tiffany to join them. The car pulled up to the mansion before she had a chance to get any more information out of Catilin.

Gregory's thoughtful hand was a lifeline as he helped her out of the car. Unlike Caitlin, he seemed to notice immediately that Olivia was distracted. As Caitlin breezed past them both to start getting ready, he led Olivia to the living room and sat her down without a word. He brought her a glass of ice water and rested his hand on her forehead. He kissed her cheek and smiled gently. "You've got a fever Liv. What have you been doing all day?"

Olivia drank her water slowly and kept on hand on his arm for support. "Just the media center and dress fittings with Caitlin."

"You seemed fine this morning." He offered as he took her empty glass and set it aside.

Standing up was easy with the support of both of his hands. "I don't know what it is. I don't feel sick, just warm."

"I'll cancel dinner." Gregory offered quickly, but she waved him off.

"No no, I just want to rest for awhile."

Gregory started to suggested taking her upstairs, but she pointed to his study. "Would you just sit with me for awhile?"

Olivia's vulnerability brought a protective rush of warmth in his chest. Keeping his arms securely around her back, Gregory remembered Roger's instructions with a smile. Fever was the first on the list. That made tonight his mission. He nuzzled her hair as he settled her into the small couch in the study. She put her feet up on the arm of the couch, and rested his head in his lap. Olivia always felt safer with him there, and he could feel her relaxing. Grabbing his copy of his father's will from the desk he started to go over it with one hand, the other ran in slow lines across Olivia's forehead.

"What are you working on?" She asked up at him.

Moving the paper aside and he kissed her hand. "Just a will. Don't even think about it."


	7. Rubies and soft light

_part seven_

"Darling, have you seen my other earring?"

The quiet note of panic in Olivia's voice brought a smile to his face as Gregory entered their bedroom. In contrast to her, he was collected and elegant in his black suit and red silk tie. The tie was supposed to match the brilliant trim of her black dress and the shawl in a heap at the foot of the bed. He paused behind her at the vanity and rested his hands comfortingly on her shoulders. "Which one am I looking for?"

Removing the ruby droplet that she had from her right ear, Olivia handed it to him. "The other one of these." She explained quickly. "I had them both a second ago."

He twirled the earring in his fingers, taking only a moment to remember the little jewelry shop in Chicago he found them in. "I've always liked these."

Olivia shot him a quick glance over her shoulder. "That's why I wanted to wear them, but I can't find it."

Running his hands appreciatively up her bare arms, Gregory gently replaced her earring and tried to calm her. "Where did you see it last?"

She looked at him in despair as she went back to the pile of jewelry on the vanity. "I don't know." Tossing the wrong earrings back into her jewelry box wasn't helping find the right one and it was almost seven o'clock.

Gregory shoved her discarded clothing off the bed and sat down with a patient smile. "We can be fashionably late Liv. It'll be fine."

"You never should have let me sleep," Olivia chastised him, " I've never been able to get ready in less then half an hour and you know it."

Shrugging, he kept his easy smile. "You were tired." Her hands were trembling slightly as she shut the jewelry box, and Gregory left the bed to wrap his arms around her waist. "You're still tired." She relaxed reluctantly into his embrace and tried to convince herself he was wrong.

He rested his chin on her shoulder. Her skin was still noticeably warm and Gregory was impressed at her determination to go to his impromptu celebration. "Why don't you sit on the bed for awhile and let me look?"

Reopening her jewelry box, he carefully dug through the top drawer of earrings. Olivia closed her eyes and willed them to stop being so dammed blurry. She smoothed the soft black fabric of her dress and waited, praying Gregory would find her earring. As he started searching her second drawer he couldn't help wondering how her eyes would light up in anger if she knew he had inflicted this mysterious ailment on her. She was so passionate, so vibrant with disgust when she was furious with him; it made their fights something special. Not the typical disputes of a married couple, but epic battles of wits that ended with them hopeless enamored with each other. It truly was a fine line between love and hate, he mused as he pulled the missing ruby drop from her jewelry box.

Silently crossing to the bed, he surprised her as he gently clipped it to her ear. "Found it."

Olivia's gracious smile was heart-melting. "Where was it?"

He knelt in front of her and rested a concerned hand on her knee. "In your third drawer, with all the other rubies right where it should have been."

Sighing, she pressed her fingers quickly to the center of her forehead. "I guess I didn't see them."

Gregory kissed away her fingers and held her head in his hands to look at her eyes. "I know you aren't feeling well, but I want you to know how much I appreciate your good-little-soldier routine." Leading her up to her feet with one hand, he grabbed her purse and red silk shawl from the end of the bed and started towards the doorway. "It's quite endearing."

Laughing weakly, she sought his arm and snuggled into it. "I do it all for you darling."

He stopped on the stairway and kissed her hand with infinite gentleness. "I know you do."

Something in Gregory's eyes caught the breath in her throat for a second, but she didn't have time to think about it before they were attacked by Caitlin and Bette at the bottom of the stairs.

"Seven o'clock-" Bette tapped her watch in mock annoyance. "Has come and gone lovebirds."

"We're only a little late." Gregory replied easily. "Grenadine's won't mind." Without releasing his protective arm around Olivia's back, he gave Caitlin a half hug and smiled at her with approval. "You look lovely Cate."

Bette coughed and looked indignant. Olivia smiled shyly and acknowledged Bette's vibrant purple cocktail dress. "As do you Bette."

Caitlin was only a step in front of her father as they headed for the car. "Sean wanted to meet us there."

"Can't pass up a chance to drive his chickadee around can he?" Bette teased lightly as she got into the limousine.

Following Bette into the car, Caitlin giggled impishly, "He likes to impress Tiffany with the Mercedes."

Gregory helped Olivia into the car before calling up to the driver, "Grenadine's please Thomas." He stepped in and sat down, immediately pleased when Olivia snuggled in and rested her head on his shoulder. Bette gave her friend a raised eyebrow that fell unnoticed to Olivia's temporarily poor eyesight.She looked next to Gregory, who acknowledged her concern with a nod and a softness in his eyes that said Olivia wasn't all right, but there was nothing to worry about.

When the car stopped at the restaurant, Bette got a chance to whisper to Gregory steadied Olivia out of the limo. "What's up with Livie?"

He threw the silk shawl around Olivia's shoulders and leaned in to whisper back to Bette. "Just a touch of something. She's been feeling strange since this afternoon."

Bette frowned sympathetically, but perked up again as soon as Olivia looked at her. "Well, I already know of course, but are you ever going to share the secret of our celebration?"

Caitlin met with the host and led the way to the Crest room. "I'm curious about that. Bette's completely refused to give me any hints. Is it a secret?"

Gregory chuckled and winked at his daughter. "You're just going to have to wait and see, aren't you?"

Tiffany stared down at the tablecloth, but Sean stood up when they entered the beautiful candlelit private dining room. "We were starting to wonder about you." His hair was slicked down neatly and he wore one of his nicest black suits. It was easy to see the resemblance he had to his father, with both of them side by side, Sean could have been a younger version of Gregory.

Bette wisely decided not to mention it as she sat at Tiffany's side and smiled kindly at the young woman before winking at Sean. "Sometimes you have to have a little faith cutie."

Pulling out a chair for his sister, Sean wasn't entirely distracted by Bette's dodge. "Did something happen?"

Olivia looked guilty as Gregory pulled out her chair and sat her down next to Bette, but he gallantly stepped in for her as he finished the circle at the table. "It took me some time to find my tie. It was in the back of the closet in with the blue ones and even though your mother kept trying to tell me where I should look, it took me quite some time to admit I was wrong and look there so I apologize to you all."

Olivia squeezed his hand under the table gratefully. Caitlin and Bette laughed, Tiffany looked up and relaxed a little, even Sean seemed satisfied.

Arriving mid-apology, the head server waited for Gregory to finish before setting the champagne at Gregory's elbow. "Good evening, our specials tonight are the garam masala scallops in a light rue sauce over linguine..."

Olivia lost interest before the sever finished the list of specialties. She kept her water glass in her hand and took small sips. It felt like ice running down her throat and her head started to ache at the contrast. She wrinkled her brow and Gregory met her gaze with concern in his brown eyes.

"It's too cold." She complained under her breath as Sean asked about the steak. Taking the glass from her hand and carefully fishing out her ice with his fork, Gregory deposited all the unwanted ice in his own glass and gave hers back.

After a moment of discussion, Bette started the ordering with the chicken cordon bleu. As the server went around the table Olivia whispered to her husband, "I'm really not hungry..."

Gregory patted her shoulder sympathetically and moved closer to her ear. "I'm getting the scallops. We'll share it."

After the server disappeared to the kitchen, Gregory's secret had everyone's attention again. Finally, he stood up with the bottle of champagne and started filling glasses to pass around. Bette and Caitlin held theirs up in anticipation, and Sean had a bottle of sparkling apple juice to split with Tiffany. Olivia held her glass up mechanically. She wasn't going to touch the champagne, but she was just as curious as everyone else to know what Gregory's toast was.

"Today is a very special day for me."

Bette held her breath but kept her smile painfully on her face. She didn't want to be in the room when Olivia found out Gregory had been keeping the truth of his father's death from her all day. Those kind of secrets didn't make for pleasant dinner conversation and he had more tact. He had too.

"Today-" Gregory repeated, "The Liberty Corportation broke ground on a new venture, our first international nonprofit deal." He watched Bette's face break from desperation into a relieved smile. "The South Bay-East Chesterfield University research and teaching partnership." Confusion rippled like a wave through the faces of his family and he had a glimpse of the community's reaction when the announcement became public knowledge this weekend.

"If you'll all be so kind as to join me in wishing it well, we can get back to our pleasant evening." The glasses went up in a sparkling ring in the candlelight. "To partnership."

The little group paused, but Bette led the reply with a dash of enthusiasm. "To partnership."

* * *

"Of course no one sees it coming. That is the simple beauty of it." Roger had assured Gregory over the speaker phone in his study just an hour ago. "The Liberty Corporation has never had any interest in the medical field."

"We've only just decided now to get our foot in the door." Gregory replied with a cunning grin. "With medical technology advancing so rapidly, we needed to find a way to keep up."

"Letting East Chesterfield become the only medical college in England that can offer in-house residencies in sunny, bloody gorgeous, southern California." Roger finished for him cheerily. "The fact that we've made it non-profit is a stroke of genius as well."

Gregory made a neat note in the margin of his father's estate plan as he packed it finally away into his desk. "That was Evans. He's got a heart for those kinds of things."

Roger chuckled and squeaked in his chair as he leaned closer to his phone. "And you've got a heart for the killing you'll make on your taxes."

Gregory stripped down to his boxers and started redressing in his black suit pants. "That's just a fortunate side benefit."

The chuckling grew in intensity. "A fortune would be more accurate." Papers rustled on Roger's end of the line and Gregory pictured Roger's feet balanced haphazardly across a mountain of unsorted papers. "That's enough work. Tell me about Olivia."

Doing up the belt took only a moment, then he took the crisp white shirt from its hanger and pulled it over his shoulders. "She developed the fever this afternoon."

"Tonight is your night Richards. I expect only your best efforts." Roger's tone was congratulatory. He knew Gregory's could turn on the charm with the best of men, and he could picture Olivia giving in already. Eyes half closed, lips parted slightly- he licked his lips vicariously. "I hope you enjoyed the early gift I sent you this morning."

Gregory finished the last button of his shirt and stopped before the mirror to do up his red silk tie. "That was a bit of a surprise. I thought I had him tucked away enough that no one would find him. How did you know where my father was?"

"The Baxter mind is a steel trap of information." Roger teased, and forced his friend to wait just long enough to make Gregory really appreciate how much work had gone into this little 'gift'. "You told me your father hated two things in the world. You and the cold."

Sliding the knot neatly into place, Gregory shook his head in disbelief. "I must have told you that twenty-five years ago."

"Steel-" Roger repeated as he continued his story. "After I remembered that, I started searching for nursing homes as far north as I could find them. After that it was a simple matter to get the delusional senior Mr. Richards sent to the nursing home of my choosing."

Fastening his cufflinks with a deftness that came from years of practice, Gregory smirked at the phone. "And for sixteen years your operative watched him and waited for your signal to end his miserable life."

"Audrey's a dear woman Gregory. He got what he deserved."

"I'm sure where ever Nicholas is now, you're right." Sliding into his suit jacket Gregory gave himself one last appraising look in the mirror before he returned to his chair at the desk. Pressing the button to take the phone off of the speaker, Gregory brought the phone to his mouth.. "And you knew that the one thing Olivia had when she was growing up was her father."

"Taking yours away now gives you what you asked for." Roger explained simply.

Furrowing his brow Gregory sat in thought for a moment, "I'm missing a part of your logic."

"You asked me for Olivia." Roger reminded him with a friendly tone. "What would cement your fledgling reconciliation back into that raging storm of passion I remember."

"And you said Olivia needed a child." Gregory continued impatiently. "If we had another child together she'd be bound to me for life."

"Tonight, with all luck on our side, you'll give her that child." Roger's slowed his exposition dramatically as Gregory became more annoyed.

"Yes, yes, I know that."

The edge in Gregory's voice drew another bout of chuckles from Roger's end. "It's about vulnerability. Your halting, late-night confession of your father's lonely death will melt her heart in ways you can't imagine. Let her come to you as your savior and it'll all come rushing back to her."

"Olivia needs to see me falter."

"Olivia needs to see you weak." Roger echoed. "Nicholas' death has shaken your entire faith in yourself. All your past mistakes with your son might have been remedied if you had somehow made peace with your father while he was alive."

"Then what?" Gregory's eyes stung for just a moment before he blinked it away.

"Then you live happily ever after." Roger was still chuckling as he hung up the phone. Gregory lay his phone back in the cradle and leaned back in his chair in thought.

Roger was right of course, he had a way with the minds of women. After the set up Roger had so thoughtfully dropped into his lap, vulnerability could definitely be arranged.


	8. Let it love

**Warning: This chapter is not for the celibate.**

Gregory's hands kneaded into her hair, fingertips running up the lines of the base of her skull. Sighing into his touch, Olivia closed her eyes as he turned on the light in their bedroom. After the darkness of the hallway the light stung, even through her eyelids.

Wincing, she quickly put her hand in front of her eyes. "It's too bright."

Shutting the lights back off, he waited a moment for his eyes to adjust before heading for the small lamp by their bed. "Better?"

Leaning into the doorframe, she nodded slightly. "Thank you."

Gregory dropped his jacket into his closet and perched on the bed to remove his shoes. Olivia watched him from her position against the wall, waiting with crossed arms. Something was bothering him. The usual elation that came with a financial victory of the magnitude of his new hospital deal was nowhere to be seen in the slump of his shoulders.

Dropping his shoes in the corner, he added his tie to the top of the pile. He unbuttoned his shirt with his back to her, sliding the shirt off of the smooth muscles of his back. Gregory had evolved from the young man she married.. Muscles changed, skin loosened and aged, but the bones were the same. The heart of the man had the same fierce passion she fell for so many years ago. He was pulling on his robe when he discovered her watchful gaze.

"What?" In the soft light, his eyes looked black and endless.

She shook her head and pushed off the wall towards the bathroom. "When we're fighting you never let me watch you undress." Dropping her ruby earrings into her jewelry box, she pulled the pins from her hair and let all of it fall in a dark tumble onto her shoulders as she headed to the bathroom. "Sometimes, I even start to forget how attractive you are when you are out of your suit and tie and just Gregory again."

Obviously touched, he kissed the top of her head and reached around for her hairbrush. "I'm sorry dinner wasn't more enjoyable."

"It wasn't that, I thought dinner was lovely" Olivia replied softly as she wiped the makeup from her face. "I'm just tired."

Gregory brushed out her hair with practiced hands. "You barely ate anything, paid little attention to any of the conversation, Bette was so concerned about you she practically followed us home."

Laughing in gentle suspicion, Olivia rested her hands on the counter and watched him fuss over her hair in the mirror. "I thought she might have cornered you."

Finished, Gregory set down the hairbrush and rested his hands firmly on her shoulders. "She worries about you."

Olivia turned around to kiss his cheek. "Bette, Sean, Cate, you- everyone worries about me." She slipped from his hands started reaching for the zipper on the back of her dress.

Gregory's hand closed around hers and he took the zipper from her fingers. "Let me do that."

Exhausted, Olivia let him slip the zipper down her back. After freeing the shoulder straps the dress flew away in a black puddle of fabric on the floor. The air of the bedroom was cold against her heated skin, by the time he had the nightgown over her head, she was trembling slightly.

Kissing her forehead, he pulled back the covers, "Bed Olivia."

Without arguing, she shivered into the blankets. He picked up his clothes and started hanging them back in the closet. She waited and listened to him move around the bedroom, but their bed was large and lonely without him next to her.

"The clothes can wait Gregory." She assured him dryly. "Come to bed." Sensing his odd resistance, she reached her hand towards him and let her eyes beg. "Please?"

Giving in, he crawled in next to her, folding warm arms around her stomach. The light was still on over his shoulder and as he reached to shut it off she asked him. "What's wrong?"

Silence reigned for a few beats. Too long for his denial to carry any weight. "Nothing, why would anything be wrong?"

Rolling over so she could see his face, Olivia found the pain in his eyes even in the dark. "You aren't happy about your business deal-"

With a finger over his mouth, she stopped his interruption. "I know what shaky business deals look like in your eyes. That's not it. I know it's nothing about money or work. That would inspire you. You didn't look this way when I left in the morning."

He kissed her hand and kept hold of it. "And it's just become relevant now?"

Olivia caressed his cheek thoughtfully. "I missed it this afternoon. I couldn't focus, but now it's clear." She pulled their entwined hands to her chest and stared at them. "Something happened this morning. While I was out."

Gregory rolled to look up at the ceiling, avoiding her eyes. "I wanted to tell you earlier."

"You didn't expect me to come home ill." Bitterness slipped into her tone and Gregory seemed to be touched by it.

He squeezed her hand sympathetically. "It wasn't your fault." With her head resting on his shoulder, Olivia's hair was soft on his neck. His fingers went to it, losing themselves in it as his lifeline. His salvation. The silence grew, but she waited for him. Gregory couldn't be rushed.

His voice was rough with emotion when he finally spoke. "I got a phone call, from a nursing home in Wisconsin."

"Wisconsin?" She echoed with a suppressed yawn.

"Nicholas died this morning. In Wisconsin." Finally admitted, the bottom dropped out of his voice.

Olivia instantly sat up, the blood draining from her head fast enough to throw spots into her vision. "Nicholas, your father, Nicholas died?"

Sitting up next to her, he leaned against her forehead. In the darkness, she could hear the hatred in the catch of the breath in his throat even if she couldn't see it in his eyes. "He was no father to me Liv," Gregory lay back down, cradling her to his chest. "I don't even know why I'm upset. It seems foolish to even waste time talking about him."

Brimming up into her eyes, Olivia's tears let the tightness out of her heart. Instead of fading away as she blinked, they ran down her cheeks, soaking into his robe. Gregory ran his hand over her head, brushing her hair back behind her ears. He didn't even realize she was crying until the dampness of her tears got through to the skin of his chest.

Nudging her up from his chest, Gregory took her tears from her face with a fingertip. "You aren't crying for him." When she didn't answer, anger stirred up from the well of hatred in his heart. His fingers dug roughly into her chin, pulling her head around to meet her eyes.

"You aren't allowed to cry for him." Dropping his hands to her shoulders, he sat up and shook her once harshly enough to click her teeth together.

"He's not worth it Liv, he's not worth anything." Boiling from his heart, Gregory's hatred reached out with blistering fingers that dug into her arms, nearly bruising the skin. "Not the nursing home, nothing!"

A single note of panic escaped from her throat, a tiny moan of protest as his hands vented his anger into her flesh.

Gregory released her immediately. Tumbling out of the bed to his feet, and shaking his head in slow disbelief. "Liv, I-" Turning away, so he couldn't look at Olivia's frightened expression, he started a broken apology. "I'm sorry, I can't think about him without wanting to kill something."

Fumbling with the belt, he tied his robe shut and reached for the lamp. "I'm going to go sleep in the guest room. I shouldn't be near you, I can't control myself-"

To leave the room he had to turn around and face her. Gregory had to walk past her wounded eyes. He tightened his jaw and took a step towards the door.

Olivia was smiling. Tears clung to her eyelashes and glistened in the soft light. "I love you."

Dumbstruck, Gregory stared at his wife, caught speechless. "I hurt you."

She patted the bed next to her and shook her head emphatically. "You didn't."

"I did." Gregory tucked his hands sheepishly into his pockets. "You were crying for that monster."

Catching his robe, she pulled him into the most intense kiss of their recent history. Olivia poured all of her sympathies into his lips, as if she could pass her heart over to him for safekeeping. In his hightened state, the force of his distrust transformed into sorrow. Raging fires of old wounds fading back to manageable embers contained with the power of her kindness.

"I'm crying for you." She whispered as she leaned back into the pillows of their bed. "I'm crying because your father beat you." Olivia gained momentum, remembering every tiny pained admission about Gregory's past. Gaining confidence as she went. "Because he tried to blame you for every wrong in his life. Because he made you feel less then human. But he was one who was inferior. He wasn't worth the dirt on the bottom of your shoes and he got off making you suffer."

Olivia's passionate defense of him made his heart feel swollen in his chest. Gregory found her hand and she pulled him back to bed. She ran her fingers over his face, wondering how many times Nicholas had beat that face bloody. "And no one helped you."

Her voice faded, growing strained. "No one saved you."

Gregory brought both of her hands to his heart and pressed them into his chest. "You saved me Liv." It was his turn to shake with unshed tears. "You taught me what it was to love someone. To really love." He crushed her to him in a desperate embrace. "You saved me." He whispered again. "You..."

Olivia wrapped her arms tighter around his back. Physically reaffirming her commitment when her words failed to escape the ache in her throat.

Gregory buried his face in her neck and cried.

With a pillow shoved between her back and the headboard, Olivia waited him out. When she was afraid she always sought comfort in Gregory's arms. He was her safe haven, the strong arms that filled the void when her father died.

He lay in her lap, Gregory's tears had grown bitter with years of aging in his heart. He made no sound when he cried, no sob would escape his control. He gave her no explanation and shared nothing of his thoughts. Olivia only knew Nicholas Richards in a few scattered stories, nightmares that had been all too real for his son.

Her memory only knew her father's kindness, his laugh and his kisses on the top of her head. Olivia would have given anything to give Thomas' love to Gregory. To trade in the horror of his childhood for the love in hers. Maybe Gregory would be different. Maybe if he had known trust and affection he would be able to share them with his family.

Gregory's hand reached up to caress her cheek, surprising her out of her musings. "I was never going to cry over him again. I promised myself that when I was seven years old."

She leaned into his touch, smiling at him in the dark. "There's a place for tears Gregory. Tears let our feelings out before our hearts explode."

Sitting up, he leaned against her forehead, relishing the clean peppermint smell of her skin. "You used to tell the children that every time Cate lost a doll, or Sean broke a toy." Gregory's hand found her knee and sent a jolt up her thigh.

Electricity arced between them. Racing along the back of her head and trailing down her spine. Her headache was long forgotten in the intoxication of his touch, her fever eclipsed by the heat of his body. Her voice dropped to a whisper. "Be kind to your heart, listen when it hurts."

Gregory's kiss interrupted her before she could finish, one of his hands continuing its journey up her thigh while the other teased her shoulder. "I can't remember the last part."

The start of a moan escaped the back of her throat as his thumb ran along the underside of her collarbone. "That doesn't matter." She whispered breathlessly. Tracing her fingers around his eyes, Olivia could feel the old dampness of his tears. He leaned closer, fighting the space between them, searching for the softness of her mouth. The quite forgiveness in her response to his kiss, spoke to the void in his soul. That empty place Gregory fought to ignore at the cost of his own empathy, his own understanding of the hearts of those around him.

She shoved the robe off of his shoulders, pushing into him, pressing the kiss back until he lay on the bed. Taking over, Olivia drug one leg slowly along his body, crossing at his hips and pulling herself on top of him. Gregory locked his fingers into the back of her hips, desperate to have more of her touching him. Kissing down in a crooked line, she teased the length of his chest. Driving the hunger in his eyes as he found the hem of her nightgown and started up towards her stomach.

Steadily gaining speed in her chest, her heart matched the need of his fingers. Rough against the soft skin of her stomach, they climbed steadily upward, pulling silk with them as they journeyed. Turning her attention to his arms, she started licking a line from his throat to his shoulder, forcing him away from the delicate bones just beneath her breasts. Unwilling to be deterred, Gregory struggled with her for a moment, but she tucked his hands under her knees. He always went to her breasts, cupping them, making them as much his as they were Olivia's. A deep chuckled escaped him when he realized she had figured him out. Tonight would be by her rules.

Rocking forward to his stomach, Olivia teased him as her breasts rubbed against his naked chest through the silk of her nightgown. He distracted her with a searching kiss, running her lips between his teeth as if he meant to devour them. As she tried to catch her breath and regain control he slipped his hands free and surprised her by cupping her bum and digging his fingers in with a wicked light in his brown eyes.

Shaking her head at him in mock dismay, Olivia let him wander his hands up the silk of her back. "That's going to cost you, you sneaky boy." One of her hands slipped beneath the waistband of his pajamas and caressed him with chill fingers. Gasping in surprise, Gregory squirmed beneath her, but he couldn't escape.

Olivia was covering him, smothering his senses with the heat of her body. Her perfume was exotic with the spicy scent of her arousal. The moon was creeping through the balcony in silver lines along the floor, making her hair glisten above the bare skin of her neck. Fighting a losing battle, Gregory struggled with the cries of his body. Thinking about corporate law as Olivia let him finally caress the curves of her breasts, he bit his lip and held on as she rid him of his pajamas bottoms.

Moaning in pleasure, she allowed him to pull the creamy silk over her head and off. The moonlight kissed Olivia's skin with an ethereal sheen as it glinted off her sweat. Even the driest tax law he could force into his mind couldn't distract him from the promise of her nude body. Groaning as she took him inside, Gregory crushed her breasts to her chest as she pulled him in and held him there.

The cadence of her breath dropped to the a low pleading moan. Forcing back the nearly painful intensity of his motion within her, Olivia bit her lip and ordered her body to wait. The pure animal desire pouring from Gregory's touch was exquisite. Rocking faster, she took him to the brink of his self control. Every part of him ached with tension of denial. Worst of all, Olivia was still half smiling. She was winning, she had him to the point where he was helpless and she knew it. Her victory leapt from her blue eyes in an electric jolt, challenging him to a duel he knew was already lost.

One of his hands snuck down to tease the most sensitive part of her body, drawing a delighted gasp from Olivia. His fingers toyed with her, becoming steadily more invasive as she stripped him of every thought but the wet tightness closing in on him. Gregory went rigid as he exploded into her with a muffled cry. Olivia released her control, letting her head float in the shared rush of their bodies.

Snuggling into his side, Olivia waited for her heart to stop pounding in her ears. Every nerve was alive with residual sensation, making her giddy. Even above the sheets of their bed, the summer night was warm and friendly. As if the anxiety of the day had been released along with their passion into the silence surrounding them. Reaching down for the sheet took her away from his arms and he held her closer when she pulled the sheet over them both.

"Let it love." Gregory realized with a snap of his fingers. "Let it love, because that's all that matters." Tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear, he sighed up to the moon shadows on the ceiling.. "That's what your father used to tell you. I can't believe I forgot."

Leaning up, she kissed his cheek gently. "You didn't forget."

Chuckling, he pulled her just a little closer. "No, I guess I didn't."

"I don't think you've forgotten half the things you seem to think you have." Olivia ventured as she toyed with the hair on his chest. "Like trust." Resting her hand over his heart she looked t him with complete conviction. "You can remember how to trust me."

Covering her hand with his own, Gregory wondered if she was right. If somewhere beneath all the layers of deception all he wanted was her trust, her unconditional acceptance. When he looked into her blue eyes, still glowing in the aftermath of their love making, he could believe it. Underneath all her reason, Olivia loved him without reservation. That he knew.

Without thinking, he answered her with his heart. "Maybe I already do."


	9. Traveling

_Traveling_

Jangling her awake, the telephone rang impatiently on the beside table. Olivia took it in a sleepy hand to stop the noise. Hitting the talk button with clumsy fingers, she climbed out of bed, careful not to wake her husband. She picked up Gregory's robe from the floor and pulled it over her nude body as she held the phone to her ear.

Whispering hello, she brought the phone to the balcony so Gregory could sleep uninterrupted.

"Well good morning love, didn't expect to get you on the line. Gregory said you weren't feeling well yesterday." Roger was obscenely awake and cheerful.

"I'm feeling much better today, thank you Roger." She replied, touched at his concern. She did feel almost entirely improved from yesterday. The heady sensation of heat that had taken over her body was gone. Her vision was blissfully clear once again. Stretching like a cat in the sunshine, Olivia smiled contentedly at the sun-kissed ocean.

"Glad to hear it love, glad to hear it." Roger paused, evaluating the situation. "So, Gregory must be still asleep."

Yawning behind her hand, Olivia replied that he was still sleeping. "How are you always so cheerful?"

"It's the devil in me, I've never been able to fight him."

Olivia giggled, picturing Roger's twinkling green eyes. "I think you're more then a little fond of your devil."

He sounded impressed. "I knew Gregory was after more then your looks. And I would have married you just for the pretty face, sure you don't want to reconsider?"

"No, but I appreciate the sentiment." Settling into a chair. she put her barefeet up on the balcony railing. "What can I do for you this morning?"

He sighed in mock disappointment. "Right down to business, all right, if you wish-" The teasing note faded away from his voice. "I'm headed stateside today. I have some things to take care of at St. Andrew's."

Olivia understood immediately, "Things that would be easier if Gregory came along."

"Exactly, " Roger agreed. "I do have the power of attorny, but I think Gregory should be the one to go through his things."

"Gregory needs closure." Olivia said for both of them.

"As brilliant as you are beautiful," Roger exclaimed lightly, "Some of his mother's things are there as well. I think he'd like to have them."

The morning sun was delightful on her bare legs. "Gregory never talks about his mother."

"Alice died when he was eighteen," Roger explained quietly. "After she was gone, he ran off to Law School and never looked back." The line was quiet as he thought for awhile. "I don't think he's even spoken to his father since the day she died."

Olivia's heartache for her husband returned, tightening her chest. "He cried last night."

"How did you managed that?" Roger asked, quietly impressed.

"It just happened," she replied softly. After another silence, Olivia made her descision. "We'll meet you in Wisconsin this afternoon."

"Lovely." Joviality returned to the man on the other end of the line. "I've another favor to ask, since you're in a giving mood."

"What now?" She wondered with a smile as she rearranged Gregory's robe to bare her shoulders to the warm sunshine.

"Can you send someone to meet my son Ethan at the airport? We were going to fly in together, but with all this business about Nicholas I had to send him alone."

"I'll send Sean and Caitlin. I'd love for them to meet your son."

"Ethan will be most grateful." She could hear his wink over the phone. "I've been filling his mind with stories of Caitlin's beauty."

Olivia cut him off with a giggle. "You've never even seen her!"

Now Roger chuckled, "All right, I've just been using my memories of you. The gentle twinkle in her eyes, the musical lilt of her voice, the kind of breasts that make you think you've died and gone to heaven."

Blushing, Olivia smiled slyly. "It's going to be wonderful to see you again, you scoundrel."

"I thought it would be. I took the liberty of getting you two a room at the resort I'm staying at. St. Andrew's is hours from civilization, but the resort is enchanting."

Thanking him again, Olivia hung up. Sneaking a look into her bedroom over one shoulder, she saw Gregory was still asleep. She dialed the airstrip, wheels would be up by 11am the pilot assured her.

Her next call was just as brief. Yes, Bette could be over in half an hour- Olivia sighed in relief. She needed someone to talk everything over with. Bette would see things she didn't.

Heading for the shower, Olivia stopped and watched Gregory sleeping. His face was peaceful, the lines of worry faded away beneath the faint stubble of morning. She left his robe on a hook by the bathroom door. She left the door open as well. Subtly inviting him to join her if he woke up.

* * *

Gregory smiled to himself as the water started in the shower. Olivia's feelings for himwere rushing back in full force. She was even expecting him in the shower.

Roger was brilliant, he again realized. Olivia wanted to feel needed. She wanted to know that he was lost without her. Gregory slipped out of bed and headed for the shower.

Startling her by slipping through the glass door to join her, Gregory started to wonder where his act ended and his feelings began. As Olivia pulled him down to kiss him, steam rising from the spray as it hit her in the back, he knew that he loved her. He had always loved her in the darkest part of his soul. She consumed him on a level he was loath to admit even to himself.

Olivia backed coyly to the cool tiles of the shower. Soapy fingers running slick lines down the muscles of his spine. The hot water was hitting him now and he reached down to turn the heat down a bit as she wrapped her leg around his thigh. Inviting him without a word, she bit her lip moaned in anticipation as he traced the lines of water running down the soft skin of her stomach.

They hadn't even spoken and already she wanted him. It was intoxicating. Gregory's tongue teased her nipple as he headed down. Kneeling on the floor of the shower, Olivia looked like a water goddess as her hair curled in wet tendrils around her neck. He found her inner thigh and grinned to himself wickedly as she trembled.

Last night she had owned him. Denying herself, Olivia had surprised him again with the depth of her feelings for him. How anyone could give so much to him nagged at him. Olivia's voice in his heart insisted that she loved him because she saw everything. She believed in him.

* * *

The rain started to hiss against the body of the plane when they were still an hour out of the Wisconsin airstrip. Their pilot, Joe Murray, assured them both that the storm was just an inconvenience, not a danger. 

"I used to fly out of Chicago all the time. Up here it's always raining or snowing and the airports are just fine. The sunny days are the ones you worry about." Joe winked at Olivia patiently. He was one of the few subordinates who never seemed to worry what his boss thought of him. Joe Murray was just Joe Murray, former Air Force pilot, jazz musician and sole proprietor of the whitest smile Olivia had ever seen.

She had liked him instantly when Gregory hired him. Most of his pilots had been arrogant, stuffy young men who liked the pay but found Gregory far too demanding. Joe had enough of a sense of humor to learn to appreciate his sporadic scheduling.

"It's already 5 o'clock and Chicago's only a 6 hour flight." Olivia wondered curiously, "How much farther are we going?"

Joe leaned out of the pilot's chair lazily and smiled at her. "Another hour and a half. We're headed nearly to Canada today."

Raising an eyebrow at her husband, she sat down next to him. "That far north?"

Gregory nodded without looking up from his paperwork. "Roger says the shore of Lake Superior is really quite beautiful." After insisting that they stop at Liberty on the way to the airport, he had been engrossed in piles of financial documentation the entire flight.

This renewed obsession with work was just one of his ways of dealing with stress, Olivia thought to herself as she turned her attention back to the dreary gray sky outside her window. His spontaneous passion that had led them to make love on his desk a few hours ago was just another way to push his emotions away. She rubbed the sore sport on her lower back and tried not to blush as she thought about where the bruise was from.

The elegant brass nameplate had avoided the sweep of his arm as Gregory cleared the desk. Heavy enough to keep its position, the metal neatly engraved with "Gregory Richards" had been heavy enough to leave a deep impression when Gregory pushed her down to the desk. She would have to tell Bette when they got home. She would, without a doubt, find the symbolism amusing.

"What are you smiling about?" Gregory's voice surprised Olivia out of her thoughts with a start.

Turning to him coyly, she couldn't help being pleased that he was going to pay some attention to something other then his work. "I was just thinking about what Bette would say if I told her about the desk." Giggling rather youthfully, she snuggled into his shoulder.

"Something witty, I assume." He responded dryly, his arm going around her shoulders in a protective gesture. "Though I doubt she'll have as much respect for me next time I call her into my office."

"I'm sure she didn't have that much to lose." Olivia deadpanned, and garnered a raised eyebrow from her husband before he went back to his work. After another long pause broken only by the rustling of papers, she yawned. "Learning anything interesting?" She ventured sleepily as she looked across his lap at the unending numbers and charts.

Pointing to the first page, he directed her attention to some of the numbers. "It's a projection of the changing economic climate in China and what it will mean for Japan and California. It's really quite fascinating if you take into account the speed at which China is becoming a real player on the world market-"

Nodding seriously as if she knew exactly what he was saying made him laugh. Then Gregory surprised her by setting the entire stack back into his briefcase and closing it with a click. "I've been ignoring you."

Protesting, she sat up and pulled her knees up to her chest. "No, you're busy and I understand."

Leaning down, he kissed her forehead. Tilting up her chin to stare at her, as if trying to read something in her face that would explain everything, Gregory sighed and shook his head. "I have been ignoring you, and you've been very patient with me." He pulled her back into his arms and rested his chin on the top of her head.

"I apologize."

Squeezing his hand gently, she got comfortable with her head in his lap. "Apology accepted, just remember you'll owe me some understanding the next time I crawl home from a radio station meeting at an ungodly hour of the night."

Closing his eyes, Gregory chuckled as he leaned back into the soft seat on the plane. "That seems fair." Tracing slow circles with his hand, he toyed with her knee. She tried to ignore it, but eventually it tickled and Olivia squirmed. Amused, he opened one eye to peer down at her, "You haven't been ticklish for years."

Snatching his hand away from her knee, she pouted playfully. "Maybe you just stopped noticing." With her eyes still closed, she missed the pain flicker across his face, like a falling star flashing in the night. She was right, but that was only a symptom of the greater decay of their marriage. For years he stopped noticing everything about her. He lived with her like a stranger in their house. A stranger in her bed who took what he wanted in the dark when he didn't have to look at the pain in her eyes.

Maybe it was that her pain was too real. The way she felt things he denied himself made her a liability. Olivia was that one other person who could shatter his defenses as his father had and she did it with her eyes. His father tried to beat the will out of him and never really succeeded. All Olivia ever had to do was look at him and all his will melted away. It was disarming on the best days of their marriage. Most of the time it was simply terrifying.

The palms of his hands had grown damp with sweat. Thoroughly disgusted with himself for letting his father affect him again, he retrieved his handkerchief and wiped them off.

"We're going to make this work Olivia." Gregory promised firmly.

His only reply was the hum of the airplane engine. Looking down at her, he smiled softly. Of course she was asleep, who knew how long he had been lost in thought. Whispering so only he heard, Gregory rested a hand on her forehead. "I have to."


	10. Dr Roger Baxter

Dr. Roger Baxter raised his umbrella to his shoulder and waited. He had debated meeting them at the airstrip, but the resort was sending a car. The rain drummed down, hitting the pavement hard enough to create a mist over the blacktop. The lake absorbed most of the sound of the raindrops and the air was cold, even in summer. The resort's limousine pulled up to the front steps, headlights golden in the darkness. Getting out first, the driver opened the far door and Roger recognized Gregory's purposeful stride. He thanked the driver, removing his blazer and holding it out for Olivia.

Roger snapped his fingers suddenly, remembering he had meant to warn them about the weather. California did tend to change one's expectations. Gregory tucked her into the jacket, and they came towards the steps slowly. Olivia was tired, Roger read immediately. Her feet were a little slow, her hand on Gregory's arm more dependent then loving.

He met them halfway, handing Gregory the umbrella and tilting up the collar of his long tweed coat. "Meant to warn you. Summer up here is a bad joke. A myth for the tourists."

Gregory laughed, thoughtfully holding the umbrella over Olivia's head. She was already soaked through her thin summer suit, her white shirt was transparent as they entered the lights of the resort entrance. Plastered to her neck, her dark hair was saturated with water. They ducked inside the entryway, finally out of the freezing drizzle.

If possible, Gregory was wetter then she was. His blue shirt was drenched clear through to his skin, but he ignored it as he brushed Olivia's wet snaking hair out of her face.

"Welcome to the beautiful shores of the great cold lake." Roger teased as he flagged down the bellman for some towels. "So good of both of you to join me."

Laying his wet jacket over the chair, Gregory ran his hands quickly up and down her shoulders, trying to warm her up. "You certainly know how to pick your vacation spots, don't you Baxter"

Roger bowed to them both elegantly. "It's one of my many talents." The bellman returned with his arms full of towels. Holding them out to Gregory, Roger winked at Olivia. "Sorry love, I certainly didn't intend to ruin your outfit."

Smiling weakly, she stood still as Gregory started with her hair. "I think it'll live. Any chance of getting some hot chocolate"

Roger handed Gregory an old fashioned skeleton key with a leather tag embossed with a fish. Looking it over, Gregory gave him a quizzical glance. Roger laughed as he headed for the kitchen. "I was told it's a lake trout. You have the trout room for the next few days." Halfway down the hall, he called back"I'll meet you with hot chocolate in awhile, get out of your wet clothes before you become patients of mine."

Tucking the key into a wet pocket, Gregory grabbed the towels in one arm and took his wife with the other. "I think that's a good idea."

Sniffling, she pulled the towel closer around her shoulders. "How can they call that summer"

They started up the stairway. Gregory's arm was warm against her back, but she was shivering when he stopped in front of the door that matched their key. It took him a few tries to open the lock with his fingers slightly numb. He sent her in first and as soon as he had the door shut behind them he started getting her out of her clothes.

With chattering teeth, she tried to help him but her fingers were more useless than his were. Pushing her hands aside, he sat her down to pull off her shoes. Dumping water out of them into the garbage can, Gregory spent a moment trying to convince the circulation back into her toes with his fingers. Then he started on her shirt. Putting her hands on his shoulders for balance, she looked around their room. The furnishings were all older wood, but lovingly maintained. A large picture window on the far wall was a black hole into the night.

He pulled her up to her feet, starting on the button of her pants. "Hot chocolate was a good idea Liv."

Practically naked and wrapped in a towel, she nodded slightly as she tried to keep her teeth still. "I hope Roger's quick with it."

Gregory yanked the quilt off the bed and draped it around her shoulders. "Your clothes are in the black suitcase aren't they"

Olivia pulled the quilt up to her chin, and sat on the bed watching him. "I think so."

He grabbed it from the doorway, opening it up on the floor. Digging around for awhile, he finally looked up at her with a bemused smile. "Did you pack pajamas"

"I thought I did." She crawled off the bed and knelt next to him, looking like a child who had just escaped the bath. "They aren't in there"

Gregory reached for the other suitcase and checked that one as well. Shaking his head, he reached for the black silk that was his pair of pajamas. "Here, put these on. I guess you were more distracted then you thought this morning."

She didn't even have to unbutton the shirt to put it on over her head. "And whose fault would that be"

He kissed her cheek when her head appeared through the neck of the shirt. "You've always distracted me Olivia. I don't know what your excuse is."

Dr. Baxter stirred the pot of milk on the stove, patiently waiting for Marian, the cook at the Blue Heron Resort, to let him add the cocoa powder. Though his hair had gone completely silver some years ago, the rest of his body seemed quite immune to the passage of time. He kept his body trim through long morning walks, and his clean-shaven face was that of a man ten years younger. Having never found himself quite professional looking when he had still had the reddish-gold curls of his youth, he relished the gray.

Marian nodded to him serenely when she was satisfied with his progress. She had a grandmotherly silhuette, and a long tight braid of white hair that hung heavy on her back. "I've some cookies for your friends." She explained, pulling them out of a plastic container and arranging them in a basket with a clean dishtowel. "It's too bad that they missed dinner."

Winking at her, Roger cemented the fond relationship he had created just that afternoon when he arrived. "I'll make sure they make it down for breakfast, one of the other guests was raving about your oven pancakes."

Strong fingers closed around his wrist and corrected his wisking technique. "They are really quite simple to make. I shall teach you before you leave." Her words had the oddly stressed syllables that indicated English was not her first tongue and they were a promise, not an offer.

The doctor smiled, his son Ethan would appreciate a new recipe. When he finally had the mixture smooth and fragrant with chocolate steam, she let him pour it into an definitely antique castiron teapot. Taking it by the wooden handle, he was surprised by how heavy it was. That garnered him a gentle smile from the old woman.

"Real craftsmanship is always heavy" Marian informed him as she tucked mugs into the pockets of his long overcoat hanging on the wall. "I'm trusting you to bring these back to me."

Slipping on his coat, he softened his green eyes into his most trustworthy expression. "I would never let a lady down, not on my honor as an Briton."

Marian patted his shoulder, her hand hardened with years of work. "You're a scamp, but I believe you. You know your place."

He bowed his head politely, grinning up at her like the rogue she knew him to be. "Thank you again for allowing me the use of your fine kitchen."

She shut the door and locked it firmly. "Be off with you now, I expect you in the kitchen ready to work at six." Marian headed down the hall in the opposite direction of Richards' room. Roger whistled to himself. Six in the morning was almost residency hours all over again. Gregory and Olivia would owe him one.

When he reached their room, he found himself without a free hand to knock. Tucking the basket under his arm, he let himself in. "All right you two, there's company now."

Olivia giggled, she looked much better now, clean and starting to dry. She sat in the couch by the fireplace. The quilt from the bed tucked up under her along with her feet.

Gregory appeared after a moment from the bathroom, dressed only in a plaid flannel bathrobe. "Don't suppose you brought an extra pair of pajamas Baxter? I've lost mine for the night."

Setting down the teapot and basket on the flagstones of the fireplace at Olivia's feet, Roger fished the mugs out of his pockets and started to pour. Olivia caught his eye as he handed her the first cup. She flashed him a sheepish smile and showed him the oversized cuffed sleeve on her arm.

Chuckling, Roger handed his old friend a cup of cocoa. "I might just have a pair. Let me run back to my room." He ducked out and returned in a few moments with a neatly folded pair of pajamas.

Gregory held the maroon silk up to his chest and smirked at the neat monogramm of an entwined "RB". "I'm surprised you didn't spring for extra letters for 'doctor'."

Roger shrugged and settled down next to the fireplace. "I'll remind Ethan. He picked those out for me."

"Still can't pick out your own clothes" Olivia teased as she continued working on her hair with a towel. "I remember Bette picking out your tuxedo for the wedding."

"Best suit I ever owned" he replied as he started a stack of wood in the fireplace.

Gregory emerged from the bathroom, slightly more comfortable in his borrowed pajamas then the plaid flannel. "Maybe you should let Bette do all your shopping." He paused over Olivia's shoulder, resting his hands on her while he watched Roger's progress with the fire.

"I'm sure my son would be happy to be replaced in that department." Reaching for a small box of matches, he lit the kindling. "Ethan's always wishing I was more independent."

Gregory's hands tightened for a moment on her shoulders anxiously. Roger's relationship with Ethan was enviable. After his marriage dissolved, Roger had spent every spare moment of time with his son, even bringing him along on house calls. By raising a young man with an easy-going love for his father, Roger had outdone his friend.

Empathesing with her husband's regret, Olivia looked up at him and took his hand. "We're really looking forward to meeting him." She assured Roger as he coaxed the flames up from the tinder. "It's nice to know someone who had more luck with their children then we have."

Gregory's fingers tightened suddenly around her left hand. The two men shared a long look and Olivia couldn't help feeling she had missed something. Roger brushed his hands off on his trousers and stood up from the crackling little fire. "I wouldn't count either of you out yet."

Taking a cookie from the basket, Roger flopped down into the armchair closest to the window. He left the space on the couch open for Gregory, but he remained standing, looking rigid and out of place in the cozy room. Still lost in thought, Gregory went to the window and stared into the woods outside. He seemed nervous, and his body was poised for the coming assault. Olivia couldn't help wondering what was watching him from the dark and how she could help him fight it.

As the fire grew, she crept out from the blanket, wrapping both of her hands around her warm cup of cocoa as Roger refilled it.

"You're been wonderfully patient with him." Roger whispered kindly. "This is one of the most confusing times in his life, and he needs you as his anchor."

She turned her head to watch her husband staring cooly out the window. "I've always wondered if he needs me, really needs me, the way I can't live without him."

Roger rested a finger on her nose, smiling at her as he shared his secret. "I've never understood how you can wonder that. When you look into his eyes- don't you see it"

Sighing, Olivia took a long sip of cocoa. "I see walls. When they're down I see regret and pain. I don't know how you can see anything else."

"I see you in Gregory's eyes. I always have." He replied honestly. Running his finger up the bridge of her nose, he tapped it once in the center of her forehead. "Maybe you should get this cleaned out more often."

That earned him a laugh, and Roger pulled her in for an impulsive hug. "I'd forgotten just how dammednably cute you are, love." As they broke apart, he showed her his watch, 11:30pm, and shook his head. "I'm off for tonight. the debt for your hot chocolate must be paid tommorow at the crack of dawn."

"Tell us the story over breakfast" Olivia begged as Roger headed for the door.

He waved a hand back as he let himself out"Of course, love, anything for you."

The door shut quietly, but not even that shook Gregory out of his reverie. He was somewhere out in the woods, and it didn't look like he was coming back any time before morning. Extracting herself from the quilt took a few moments, but Olivia padded over to him. Her bare feet were cold on the wood floor. She knelt on the floor at his feet, staring plantively up at him with her head on his knee. "I don't know what's out there, but I'm going to bed."

Gregory guided her up, balancing her on his lap. "Roger"

"Gone to bed." She replied softly. "We'll see him at breakfast."

The ends of her hair were still damp as his finger's fidgeted through it. "I've been thinking awhile."

Nodding quickly, she looked innocent perched on his knees. "You have, but you can let it rest now. Whatever it is."

Caressing her face, he agreed with a small smile. "You're Liv. I should have gotten you to bed hours ago. Come on." As he folded down the blankets, Olivia climbed into bed, watching sleepily as he went around the room. Gregory turned off the lights, set the damper on the fire and checked the lock on the door before adding the she left on the couch over the top of the bed. Satisfied, he crawled in next to her and let her get comfortable.

After a few moments of her fidgeting, he chuckled as he rolled her over his body and they switched sides of the bed. "Will this be better"

She curled into a ball against his side and yawned. "I think so."

"What was wrong with the other side" He asked softly, not expecting much of an answer. "Just wasn't right"

Yawning again, Olivia finally settled down with her head on his chest. "Just wasn't right" She repeated as she traced the monagramm on his pocket with sleepy fingers.

He tried to concentrate on the nearness of her. The soft damp smell of her hair mixing with the wood from the fire overpowered the nagging anxiety in the back of his mind. Worrying about tomorrow wouldn't let him rest. All he really wanted to do was stop thinking, to fall asleep as easily as Olivia did when she was safe in her arms.


	11. Two men

Cole settled back into the fine leather of first class and turned to his neighbor for the duration of their flight to New York City. "So, what's your business in Sunset Beach?"

Ethan Baxter took a moment to realize the question was directed towards him and he smiled sheepishly as he looked up from his book. "Oh, I'm visiting friends of my father, what about you?"

The well-dressed stranger extended his hand, brown eyes twinkling below jet black hair. "Cole St. John."

Returning the handshake, Ethan wondered what kind of business this man around his age could have. "I'm Ethan Baxter. How'd you know I was going to Sunset Beach? This flight only goes as far as New York."

"Your ticket's in the pocket in front of you. I recognized the flight number from my own. I have some business there." Cole observed easily. "And you're from England, northern coast maybe?"

"Guilty as charged." Ethan chucked dryly, amusement bright in his green eyes. "I was hoping the accent wasn't too thick."

Cole took a sip of his drink and shook his head. "I travel a great deal. I hear a lot of accents, and it's a hobby of mine to place them."

"You've developed a talent." Shaking his head, Ethan had to admit he was impressed. "What line are you in?"

With practiced ease, Cole jumped into his lie. "I'm a jewelry appraiser, for an insurance company. I specialize in antiques and unique pieces. It takes me all over the world."

"Must be an interesting career." He popped a tiny pretzel into his mouth and smiled as he chewed around it. "Much more interesting then mine I'm afraid."

Cole paused in thought, studying his neighbor's appearance. "Something professional, important, but not business."

Ethan raised an eyebrow, furrowing a high forehead beneath his sandy brown hair. "Why not business?"

Cole waved down the stewardess for another martini. "You're not arrogant enough for business. You'd be eaten alive."

Shrugging, but not arguing with the sentiment, Ethan smiled and got another drink as well. "You're probably right. I'm a veterinarian, at least, almost one. I still have to finish my internship."

Cole spun the olive in his cheap plastic cup. "Will you do it in Sunset Beach?"

Setting down his drink, Ethan bit his lip in thought. "I don't know. I might like to. My dad's going to stay in town with his new project and we're usually always together."

Drumming his fingers on the tray table, Cole appeared to suddenly recognize the name 'Baxter'. Reaching into his briefcase, he retrieved a folded newspaper. "I was just reading this. A Dr. Baxter is working on a big construction project there. Any relation?"

Curious, Ethan took the paper and looked at the picture of the ceremonial ground-breaking. His father had missed it of course, but the caption identified both Gregory Richards and a younger man named Ben Evans. People his father wanted him to work with closely. He rested a finger on the Gregory's serious figure.

"This is my dad's best college chum, Gregory Richards. The Dr. Roger Baxter who's name is all over this article is my dad." He handed the paper back to Cole and sighed. "How long I stay in town is up to him."

"How so?" Cole teased. "Forgive me, but you seem old enough to live on your own."

Chuckling as he finished off his bag of pretzels, Ethan had to nod. "Gregory has a daughter, Caitlin. Dad's completely smitten with her, and he'd like nothing better then to marry us both off."

"Arranged marriage still popular then?" With a wink, Cole showed his amusement with the whole idea.

"Maybe only among two extremely overprotective fathers. Apparently since no man has ever been good enough for Caitlin in Gregory's eyes, my father likes to challenge me." He brushed his glasses back up his nose and saw the understanding in Cole's eyes. "I think a lot of it might be sentiment towards Caitlin's mother. She must be a hell of a woman, Dad still talks about her with that soft look in his eyes."

"The one that makes him look about fourteen?"

Ethan agreed as he flagged down the stewardess for more pretzels and a refill. "That's the one. How'd you know?"

Shrugging nonchalantly, Cole ate his olives first this time. "Everyone has that epic woman they'll always remember. Did they ever date Gregory's wife and your dad?"

Shaking his head quickly, Ethan leaned closer to Cole. "Apparently, Olivia was Gregory's as soon as he met her. Dad was just her friend."

"Are they meeting you when they arrive? Gregory, Olivia and your father?"

Ethan took his glasses off to wipe them clean with his shirt. "Oh no, the three of them have some business up north. Gregory's father just died."

Cole smiled sympathetically. "That must be hard on the family."

"You'd think so." Ethan ventured as he put his glasses back on. "But Gregory's been completely estranged from his father since his was eighteen. Dad wasn't sure he'd even come to take care of his father's remains."

"That's a big grudge to hold for that long." Cole replied firmly, hiding his pleasure that Ethan was going to be such a fountain of information.

"I'll say." Ethan eyed the martini in front of him thoughtfully as he traced his finger around the rim. "Dad says Gregory never does anything small, but Olivia talked him into going."

Cole took a pen and seemed to start working on the crossword in the back of the Sentinel. "Must be a strong marriage."

Pausing for a moment, Ethan had to think before he responded. "Hasn't always been. More then a few times, dad's been afraid that they'd divorce. After he and my mom split up, he's been a little protective of the Richards. He really wants them to be happy, especially if he isn't."

"What happened with your parents?" Cole asked with polite interest as he made careful notes in the spaces of the crossword.

"Mom wanted to be more then Mrs. Dr. Roger Baxter. She was always a very independent woman, and when I was five they divorced, causing quite a scandal for both of their families." Ethan continued onward, blissfully unaware that Cole was keeping track of his every word. "Dad always blamed himself; he hasn't even tried dating anyone in all the years since. He's alluded to a mysterious woman in Sunset Beach that he's fond of, but he hasn't told me her name."

"So it's a real new start for him, coming to America with a huge construction project, a new university to run and a mysterious woman somewhere out there."

Ethan gave Cole a naïve smile. "I never saw it that way; you're really bloody brilliant when it comes to people."

"As I told you before," Cole reminded him with a smile. "I meet a lot of people."

* * *

Two hours later, the jet touched down in New York City. One young man by the name of Ethan Baxter checked in for a flight to Sunset Beach. He had black wavy hair, piercing brown eyes and the kind of dimples that made women's knees weak. Upon close inspection, his passport would have been caught as a carefully forged fraud where the picture of the owner had been replaced with that of another man. But the line at customs was long and the inspector was at the end of a long shift.

A young man without a passport woke up in the airport infirmary several hours after the plane for Sunset Beach departed. He had no wallet, in fact, no form of identification at all. He was told he had passed out sometime before the plane landed and that he had obviously been drugged and robbed while he slept. He did, however, still have his glasses and a strong English accent. He was sent fill out a police report and wait at the British embassy until an emergency passport could be rushed to him.

* * *

Sean and Tiffany were already bored. They had visited every gift shop, pretended to be every type of foreign tourists they could think of and they were starting to get on Caitlin's nerves. After another half hour of their impatient chatter, she had to get rid of them.

"Get out of here. Go for a walk on the beach. Get out of my hair!" She was laughing, but Sean saw the annoyance in her eyes.

"Sorry Cate, it's just a little dull here."

She waved him off with a smile. "Just go have fun. I'll make sure Ethan gets back to house okay."

"Thanks Caitlin." Tiffany replied quietly. "We'll see you later?"

"Of course." Caitlin nodded patiently. "I'll bring him by the Deep and show him how we American kids have fun."

Sean gave her a quick hug as they headed for the exit. Caitlin went back to her magazine. At least with them gone, she could read it in relative peace.

She was through the third magazine and reaching for the fourth when she heard the polite clearing of his throat. Looking up in surprise, she found a young man staring at her as if he knew her.

"Caitlin Richards?" He asked politely.

Stunned, she dropped her magazine to the floor as she jumped to her feet. He was better looking then she could ever have imagined him. Soft black hair, deep brown eyes and the most distracting smile she had ever seen. "I'm Caitlin. How'd you know it was me?"

He glanced around the airport and winked at her. "You're the most beautiful girl here, it had to be you."

Blushing furiously, she reached down to pick up her magazines and stuff them into her purse. "You must be Ethan."

"Guilty as charged," he replied easily. "And I have to admit I was just following my dad's instructions. He remembers your mother as being so lovely, he was certain you'd be an angel."

"Your dad's been a good friend to my parents for a long time." She gulped as he reached for her arm and folded it in his elbow. "He knew mom before she was married."

Cole nodded, remembering Caitlin's mother was Olivia. "Olivia's an epic memory for dad. One of those women he never really got over."

"I bet you have some interesting stories." Caitlin led the way to the baggage claim. "I'd love to hear about my parents when they were young."

He squeezed her hand, smiling as if he had known her for years. "I think I'm going to like you, Caitlin Richards."

She blushed again, redder this time. Cole grabbed his luggage, thankful he had the time in New York to switch the baggage tags. Ethan was slimmer and his clothes wouldn't have fit well. "So when are they coming back?"

"Mom and daddy?" She thought for a moment as she called the driver on her cell. "In a few days I think. Daddy promised to be back in time for the Charity ball and that's on Friday."

It was only Wednesday afternoon, Cole had nearly forty-eight hours to find the Deschanel jewels and get the hell of out Sunset Beach. "Do you know if your parents have provided me with a date?"

That made even her neck turn pink. "I was going to escort you, since you don't know anyone."

The limo driver took Cole's baggage and opened the door to the car. He gestured that Caitlin should go first. "I think I'm going to enjoy the ball." Winking as he climbed in next to her, Cole could see the effect of his charm in the trembling of his hands. He would enjoy the ball from far, far away.


	12. Maple syrup

Olivia fought against being awake, she found the peace of bed far too pleasant, but someone was laughing. Roger, she decided without opening her eyes. Roger was often laughing and that meant she could go back to sleep. Rolling over, she intended to forget all about the noise in her room. Someone flopped onto the bed next to her, he was laughing as well, and that struck her as odd.

The only person who would jump onto the bed next to her was Gregory, and he didn't start out his mornings laughing. Deeply reluctant, she opened her eyes just a tad. Roger threw open the curtains and she knew she was done sleeping for the day when the bright sunlight sliced into her eyes.

Hiding her eyes beneath her hand, she listened as the two men talked over her head. "Come on sweetheart. We've been up since dawn making breakfast and you're going to love it."

Moving her hand aside, she stared at her husband, entirely dumbstruck. "You don't cook."

Still laughing, Gregory pulled her up and set up the pillows behind her. "Neither does Roger really, but we had a rather strict mistress force us to this morning."

"Payment for use of her kitchen last night." Roger explained as he set the tray of breakfast over her legs. "Gregory makes an excellent gallery slave. You'd be proud of him."

Kissing her cheek, Gregory coaxed her to open her eyes. "We brought it all the way up here for you."

"And it's time for me to go for my run." Roger announced tactlessly. "That way you two can get all romantic without making me lose my breakfast."

Opening her eyes slowly, she caught Roger's wink to her husband as he disappeared from their room. Gregory tucked her hair back behind her ears and gestured to the tray. "I know it looks a little odd, but I can swear to you it is completely edible. I even brought you some coffee and orange juice."

Touched, she squeezed his elbow as he cut her first bite for her. "What did you make?"

"Oven pancakes. Marian tells us that they are good traditional food, from the 'old country'" The wry expression on his face made her giggle. He patiently held the fork in front of her mouth. "Think of it as a breakfast soufflé. Roger and I both loved it, even though we had a hand in making it."

Smiling, she took the fork into her mouth and smiled as she started to chew. He raised his eyebrows at her impishly and grinned. "I thought you'd like it."

She took a sip of her coffee while he refilled her fork. "How did you and Roger end up cooking?"

Admiring the way she curled her lips around the fork, Gregory fed her again. "We're the only ones here, and Roger was alone until we arrived. And you know Roger, always making friends with anyone in charge of the food."

Olivia licked sweet maple syrup from her lips slowly and waited for her next bite. "So he dragged you down to the kitchen?"

Catching a stray drop of syrup with his thumb, Gregory nodded, seeming surprised with his own behavior. "I was up anyway, and it was that or go running with him."

"I think you did a good job on this." She assured him as he cleaned some more syrup from her cheek with his tongue delicately.

Gregory stole a sip of her juice and smiled, "It was nice to do something with my hands, not to think about anything but the eggs I was beating."

"I'm glad you're having a good time darling." She took the fork from his hand in order to squeeze his fingers. "I was worried about you."

"Nicholas meant more to me then I realized." He replied softly as he cut more of her slice of pancake. "The only model I ever had of a father was a cruel monster, and even though I try so hard not to be like him, I think about the hurt I caused you, Sean and Caitlin and I can't help wondering if I am just as bad."

Swallowing her breakfast through the lump in her throat was difficult. "You're not a monster Gregory." Olivia promised with eyes that were already stinging.

His small laugh was just a hiss of air in his throat. Gregory took the cloth napkin from the tray and dabbed at her eyes. "Hey, sweetheart, you're going to get salt all over your breakfast."

With tears cascading down her face in earnest, Olivia realized it was a real problem and started to giggle nearly hysterically. Moving breakfast safely out of the way, Gregory pulled her to his chest, folding her close. "It's all right Liv."

"We're all right."

"I'm sorry." She whispered to his chest, "I can't help it."

Rocking her gently on the bed, he was smiling softly when she came up from his arms. "Are you going to be able to eat without ruining your breakfast now?"

Olivia nodded slowly, still more choked up then she wanted to admit. His hand was gentle as he cleared remaining tears from her face. "I don't want you to think you're a monster," she protested as he brought the tray back and resumed his doting.

He kissed her forehead, nearly disturbing the coffee. "I can't really believe that when I around you. Sometimes it's the only time I feel human."

She held up her hand, stopping him from further admissions. "I'm going to cry all over your pancake."

Gregory used the napkin again, marveling at her endless capacity to feel things he had trouble understanding. "I wish you wouldn't."

"Stop being so sweet." She ordered softly.

He hardened his expression to his best courtroom sneer. "Better?"

Olivia's crying changed fully into giggling. His frozen expression was entirely out of place over his borrowed pajamas and lazily tied plaid robe. The waiting fork in his hand only added to sheer ridiculousness of the situation.

Covering her mouth shyly, she admitted, "I think your reputation would be damaged if people saw you like this."

Gregory looked at himself and then back at her with a genuine smile that warmed her heart. "Most definitely." He brought the fork to her lips and used the gentlest expression she on his face in years to coax her. "Please finish eating?"

Swallowing, Olivia wrapped her hands around his knee with renewed admiration. "If you keep feeding me I'm going to get spoiled. I might even get used to this kind of treatment."

Trying to remember the last time he feed her an entire meal, Gregory's mind went back to years ago. "I used to feed you lunch in bed, when you were pregnant with Caitlin."

He took another sip of orange juice and continued to search his memories.

"I used to get so worried about you. You never ate any breakfast and half the time you were still sleeping when I got home from work."

Olivia sighed and filled in the blanks in his thoughts. "I was anemic; all I wanted to do was sleep."

"And you had morning sickness, and you kept having those dizzy spells. I don't think I slept soundly from the day you told me you were pregnant."

Letting him resume his task, Olivia carefully spoke around the food in her mouth. "You were young."

"And a nervous wreck." He added with a self-depreciating chuckle. "I'm afraid I wasn't nearly as good to you when you were pregnant with Sean."

Shaking her head to get him off of the topic, Olivia put her hands on his face and held it. "It's all right now darling."

Gregory kissed her hands as he set them down on her lap, and tempted her with the fork again. "Do you ever wish we had another chance? To really get things right."

"I thought we were getting things right-" Olivia started to reply, before she realized what he was referring too. "Another baby?" She asked finally.

"I know both of us have so many things we regret about Sean and Caitlin's childhoods. Neither of us was there enough for them, and neither of us knew how to love them the way we should have." Licking syrup from his fingers, he gave her a weak smile. "Sometimes I wish I could take it all back, do it again and do all of it right this time."

Olivia didn't know what to say. Her latest bite sat half-chewed in her mouth for a long time as she tried to think. Finally she swallowed, and this time she set the tray away to crawl into his lap. "There are so many things I'd like to change, between us, with Cate and Sean, but I don't know if we can have another baby."

The quiet note of sorrow in her voice told him she was truly afraid of disappointing him. "I'm not as young as I used to be darling."

Kissing the top of her head, Gregory leaned back against the wall behind the headboard. "It was just talk Liv. Just foolish wishes. Don't worry about it, in fact, don't even think about it another minute. We have enough sad things to deal with today."

Wrapped tightly in his arms, Olivia knew the deep longing in his voice. She had no idea if she could have another child. Common sense told her she was still young enough to deal with her period once a month, and wasn't she in reasonably good health for her age? Did she even want another baby?

Looking up at Gregory's gentle smile cemented her resolve. As she snuck out of bed to climb into the shower, she spent a long moment looking at herself in the mirror. If he wanted another baby, then she did as well. Now the only question was if she could give him one.


	13. Catharsis

Gregory ripped the cap off the bottle of scotch. He tossed it into the center of the burnng pit where it bounced off the layer of papers he was building on the bottom. Taking a long, burning swig he realized he had been fortunate. The resort manager had been only to happy to give in to Olivia's request that he be allowed to use it. Grateful she had asked, he knew he would have demanded it.

Roger had her safely away on a walk up the shore. Gregory knew Olivia would be with him otherwise, watching his fall into the depths of his emotional turmoil. His old friend had seen the signs of the coming storm in his manner on the way back from the nursing home, and Roger was right to keep her away. She didn't need to see him like this. Damage control alone would have taken the rest of the trip, and he wanted to enjoy his time here with his wife. Stealing some amount of happiness from this place would teach his father's memory that he was beyond him. That he had beaten him.

His father was a pack rat. He had kept everything, and now Gregory had a life's worth of despair in a pile of cardboard boxes. Most of it was useless old paperwork tht Nicholas had saved obesessively, but lost in the debries were remnants of his mother. Some old photographs of and books that she had written in. Everything of Alice's was in a neat pile on the picnic table,and he piled up everything else in a steadily growing mound waiting for the gas can.

In the back of the storage locker, he found a cardboard box with Alice's jewelry stuffed inside of it, wrapped up in an old table cloth. The lace was ruined, stained brown with water damage, and the jewelry inside was barely worth more then the cloth. Nicholas had cheap taste, all of the baubles were garish and he dumped them into the pit, listening to the dull thuds on the papers already there. Something hit with a dull thump heavier then the rest.

Dropping to his knees, he went into the pile with both hands up to his elbows. Looking with deperate fingers for the cause of the noise and completely headless of the dirt and junk, Gregory didn't even noticethe scratches he inflicted on his hands. Finally, his left hand closed on the cold metal circle and he tore it victoriously out of the pile, the long chain trailing afterwards like a tail.

Returning to the picnic table with his prize, he took another long draught of scotch as he cleaned the old pocket watch on his shirt. Nicholas had lied about the watch the night his mother died, saying he'd beat it into to tiny pieces, so Gregory could never tarnish it with his hands. Suspecting even his father didn't have the heart to destroy Alice's only legacy for her son, he had searched everything left, praying his suspicions were right. The watch was his now.

Laughing manicially, he toasted it with his bottle of scotch. After another long drink, he poured some on the ground beneath the pcnic table. "Here's to you father. I'm sure you need a drink down there." Picking up the watch, he circled the pile of posessions thoughtfully. "All my life, she wanted me to have this, the one thing she had to give me that was hers. That you couldn't take away."

"That night, when she died, I remember her pressing it into my hand and telling me she was proud of me. She knew I would have a good life." Kicking one of the boxes into the pile, he shook in anger.

"But that wasn't good enough for you was it? You had to rip it out of my hands as soon as her heart stopped. You had to tell me that I didn't deserve it. That I wasn't worthy."

Smashing the bottle of scotch into the pile, he grabbed the gas can as the liquid drained from the broken glass. He splashed on the gasoline recklessly, liberally soaking everything within the blackened circle of the pit. "I've beaten you." He sneered at the pile.

"I hated you, I was terrified of you. And mom -mom was dying the moment you met her. You just watched her go. You couldn't even hold her hand when she died. That was me." Striking the match gave a wicked light to his features.

"And you died alone." He held up the match, watching the flame lick closer to his fingers. "No one mourns you."

Dropping the match, he watched the paper beneath it blacken and burst into flame. "The only one who cried when you died was Olivia, and she cried for me." The tiny flame crawled upwards towards the gasoline. "She cried for me."

Catching with a rush of noise and light, the gasoline tore upwards in a fireball, knocking him back a step. The firelight raged in his eyes, sparks and flecks of burning paper swirling around his head like motes of burning snow.

* * *

Down on the rocky shoreline, Olivia watched the pillar of smoke start to creep over the line of pine trees. "That's Gregory isn't it" 

Not bothering to look up from the rocks he was skipping on the still water, Roger confirmed her fears. "Took him longer then I thought to get to the destruction."

Pulling her knees up to her chin, Olivia shivered subconciously in the cooling night air. "Should we go back"

The rock caught the surface of the water in seven neat little splashes before sinking into the darkness. "Maybe." Roger rested his hand on her shoulder for a moment as he looked for another rock. "It might be better just to let him burn himself out. You know what Gregory can be like when he's kept something in for too long. This has been building up for more then twenty years."

Selecting a probable specimen, Roger tried to beat his current record of seven. Watching the water, Olivia wondered how big the Lake they were on had to be if it looked so much like the ocean, but while the ocean made the air briny and crisp, the air here just smelled cold. She looked back at the smoke. Fighting with her own judgement, she got up to pace the shoreline.

Hearing her feet behind him, Roger threw his last rock and took up her back and forth pattern next to her. "I'll take you back if you want love. All you have to do is say the word."

Olivia buried her hands in her pockets. "I don't know, you're probably right, Gregory needs to be alone for awhile."

Far across the black water, the first traces of moonlight started to peer through the dark pines. "Just give him a little more time. I don't want to see you get on the recieving end of any of that." Pointing at the growing curl of smoke, Roger stepped nimbly over a huge dead tree and reached back a hand to help her over. Pausing tentatively on top of the log, Olivia got Roger's attention. "You're really thinking too much tonight love, you've got your poor eyebrows all tied in knots."

Smiling weakly, she finally blurted out the nagging thought from this morning. "Has he said anything to you about wanting another baby"

Roger chuckled in surprise. "That old dog! If you were my wife, I don't know if I'd want to gt you knocked up again. After all, the kids are almost out and gone and you're just getting to the fun part of being married."

Olivia couldn't laugh. Gregory had been too gentle in his denial, and too sincere when he brought it up for it to just be a passing thought. "I'm serious Roger. I think he's put a lot of thought into this."

Hiding his thoughts behind professional detachment was something Roger had picked up splendidly in medical school. He leaned against the log lazily and pretended to spend a long moment in contemplation. He would have to hand it to Gregory. Not only did he managed to use the fertility drugs without Olivia's knowledge, but he had managed to plant enough of an idea in her head for her to come to her doctor friend for help.

"Well love, what do you think about it? Are you ready to part with that beautiful figure of yours again? I mean, it's not that you aren't absolutely radiant when you're pregnant, but it's a big commitment. Especially, and don't shoot the messenger, at your age."

Predictably, her face both brightened with amusement at his flattery and fell when he mentioned her age. "Do you really think"

He put an arm around her shoulders instantly"No, no, not at all. I think you and Gregory can do anything you both put your minds too." He took her hand and started down the shore back to the resort. "And to be perfectly honest with you love, he's been taking about it a great deal. Didn't quite know how to bring it up with you, but I think he has some concerns about the future."

Olivia's immediate worry was vivid on her face. "Concerns? What kind of concerns"

Rubbing a hand across her back, he tried to decide how to phrase Gregory's carefully developed script. "Well, he worries about his legacy. Caitlin doesn't have the mind for business, and he and Sean have always been so at odds with each other. Someone has a pair of very large shoes to fill at the Liberty Corporation when he retires and I think he's always wanted it to be one of his children."

"He's never mentioned it before." Replying quickly, Olivia's mind was already racing. It made sense in a disturbing way she had never considered. Who was going to pick up where Gregory left of? If it was up to Sean and Caitlin they might just sell out and live off the money for the rest of their lives. She couldn't blame them for wanting that kind of luxury, but what did that mean for their children, her grandchildren?

Roger sighed heavily. "I'm afraid it's something all of us father's worry about. I thank my lucky stars that Ethan has a good career ahead of him. You should see the herds of animals he has back at the estate." They left the water and started down the dark path through the woods, the smell of Gregory's bonfire starting to drift towards them.

"I guess, if I were your darling husband, I'd be wanting another baby so I could have a protegee, someone to learn everything I knew so I could retire to a tropical island with my lovely wife in peace."

They were close enough to the fire for the light of it to reflect off her eyes, making them look unnaturally bright. "What should I do"

Roger put on his best serious expression, but could only hold it for a moment before he burst into good-natured laughter. "You have two children already, do I really need to spell out the details for you"

Blushing faintly, Olivia giggled behind her hand. "No, I think that part is something I remember."

"Good." He assured her easily. "After that, it's just repetition. The best advice I can give you is to make love at the drop of a hat, keep lots of headgear around for the dropping, and keep a good attitude about it. It may take time. It may never work, but the only downside is something I think both of you can live with." Finishing with a wink, Roger had her feeling the most relieved she had in a long time.


	14. Exploring

Reaching for the remote control, Cole turned off the television in the guest bedroom at the Richards' mansion. Caitlin was fast asleep on the bed and he was sick of the romantic drivel she had picked out.

This was their second movie and he was deeply grateful she had fallen asleep. Believing Ethan Baxter to be the type to watch anything with a pretty girl, Cole was then stuck playing the hapless country boy. He would have preferred his usual tactics of seduction. Caitlin was lovely in the California blonde sort of way, and she had an innocence that challenged Cole's professional pride.

He removed a small black bundle of tools from his briefcase and brushed a finger through a lock of Caitlin's soft, blonde hair. Asleep, she looked barely eighteen, but her lips were full and ripe. Licking his lips he thought about virgin fruit. She would taste of strawberries.

Sneaking out into the hallway, Cole contemplated his next moves. He would start with the study. Perhaps Gregory was controlling enough to keep Olivia's jewels close at hand.

The study door was locked. Cole knelt in front of it, easing a tiny strip of metal into the lock and feeling around. He took a sharp pick and stuck it into the lock as well. After a moment of fiddling around, the door clicked softly open. Easy.

Shutting the door behind him, Cole went immediately to the painting on the wall. Running his fingers around the edge, he deduced that the picture was on subtle hinges. He opened the painting.

Immediately the study filled with a blaring noise. Cursing to himself, Cole found the tiny tripwire on the corner he had missed. He had thought this was too easy. Licking his fingers, he tried to short circuit the wire, but the alarm continued. He could hear Caitlin coming down the stairs.

Quickly turning on the light in the study, he put on his best perplexed expression and tried to look like he had tripped the whole thing by accident.

"Ethan? Ethan where are you?" Caitlin's sleepy voice floated in from the stairs.

Yelling over the racket of the alarm, Cole sounded apologetic. "I'm in the study. I tripped and I bumped this painting and then the alarm started. I can't figure out how to shut it off."

Caitlin entered, hands over her ears. Cole shoved his toolkit deep under the desk with a foot so she wouldn't see it. Going to the wall, Caitlin entered a quick code and shut off the wailing alarm. "You have to be careful what you touch in daddy's study. Ever since mom inherited the jewels, he's upped security. I think he's even gotten a little paranoid," she finished with a yawn.

"I'm so sorry." He repeated innocently. "I had no idea, I was just looking for at some pictures-" Sitting down at Gregory's desk let him stuff the tools even further out of sight.

"Then I tripped." Cole shrugged sheepishly. "I'm afraid I'm a bit clumsy and I set the dammed thing off. Maybe you can help me find what I'm looking for."

Caitlin perched on the corner of the desk. "What are you looking for?"

Time to lay it on, Cole thought with a mental smirk. "It's kind of embarassing really, but I was looking for pictures of your mom. Dad's always talking about her and your dad. He said they had this kind of epic romance that could never be duplicated. Dad's been searching for someone like that he's entire life."

Something dark passed through her blue eyes and Cole tried to place the emotion. Disbelief? Anger? Jealousy?

Leaving the desk, Caitlin sighed as she pulled a heavy leather album out from the bottom shelf. "These are their wedding pictures and stuff from the beginning. That's all they really have that's romantic. By the time Sean was born they hated each other."

Cole flipped through the pictures quickly, checking Olivia's jewelry in each one. As time went on in the photographs her jewels grew more extravagent. Of course the Deschanel jewels remained the goal, but it wouldn't hurt to pick up some things for himself along the way.

"Why do you say that?" He asked naively. "Dad said they're completely enamored with each other again."

Caitlin didn't look at the pictures. Although she hadn't admitted it to herself yet, she was missing her father's affection. He had been so caught up in Olivia that she could swear he barely listened to her when she was talking. Gregory used to hang on every word she said.

"Again being the keyword." She said bitterly. "And who knows how long it'll last? Mom will just start drinking again and then daddy will just get hurt like he always does."

Cole's mental notes were scribbling furiously. There was something useful between Caitlin and her mother. A kind of deep rooted animousity that could be very helpful indeed. "My father thinks this time is different."

Two diamond necklaces, one sapphire tiara, several sets of ruby earrings - Olivia Richards certainly did not want for fine jewelry. He noted to himself. But he smiled up at Caitlin. He had a trump card. Something else poor, innocent Ethan had let slip on the plane to New York.

"Dad says Gregory wants to have another baby."

Caitlin shook her head. "That's impossible. I'm the only one of his children he really likes. Dad barely tolerates Sean."

Cole leaned across the desk towards her, quickly extrapolating a plausible story. Though Ethan had mentioned Gregory's parental ambitions, Cole had not thought to press the subject. "He told my father that both of you were a disappointment."

Caitlin looked like she had been slapped. "He didn't..."

"Neither of you wants to follow his footsteps at work." Cole continued, "He doesn't think you really appreciate everything he's done for you." Pausing for effect, he added a finishing touch. "Not like your mother does."

Tears came immediately to those soft blue eyes. "How can he be so wrong?" She whispered. "Mom's never cared about him the way I do. She's been drunk for the last twenty years. If I were him I'd have left her years ago."

Standing up, he rested a sympathetic hand on her shoulder. "Sometimes you wish he had, don't you?"

"I do." She fell into his arms, crying into his chest. "All the time. If dad got rid of mom he could stop worrying about her and be happy. We'd be happy."

Cole leaned down and kissed her, starting gently but quickly turning on his reserves of charm. When he finished she was breathless and he smiled to himself. Strawberries.


	15. Still here

It was long after midnight when Roger finally relented. Walking outside in search of Gregory together made the knot in Olivia's stomach subside only slightly. Her husband's cold fury was frightening to be sure, but when his anger overwhelmed his control he was truly demonic.

Still crackling in the darkness, the stacks of paper and scraps of wood of his bonfire had faded mostly to embers. As they walked, her eyes adjusted slowly. Gregory was the pacing dark figure silhuetted in the orange glow. He was talking to himself, but none of it sounded like language.

Roger motioned her back, putting himself between her and her husband. Olivia crossed her arms nervously over her chest. Waiting.

Absorbing Gregory's mental state as he watched his friend prowl like a caged beast, Roger realized there was only one logical course of action. He removed his tweed jacket and handed it to Olivia with a gentle half smile. "Now Olivia, love, remember that sometimes you have to just let men be the brutes they are."

Clinging to his jacket, Olivia looked at both of them suspiciously. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to defuse him before he does something he'll regret." Wishing he knew a better way, Roger rolled up his sleeves and sighed. "Just stay back, all right? He'd never fogive himself if he hurt you."

Quickly crossing the clearly, Roger caught Gregory by the arm and dragged him away from the fire. His friend's eyes blazed as if the bonfire were still raging inside of him. His face was smudged with dirt and his hair wild.

Gregory struggled to get away from Roger's grasp. Wanting to return to his blaze, he pulled hard against the hand that held him. Roger dropped his weight back, freed his left hand and cuffed Gregory across the face.

It only took an instant for the fury in his eyes to focus on his target, then Gregory's roundhouse went wide as Roger dodged out of the way. Nimbly dancing back from the fire, Roger manuevered into a patch of dirt between the trees. "Come on Richards, you're better then this."

Snarling deep in his throat, Gregory swung viciously at his friend. Roger took the hit in his shoulder and came out of it swinging. Catching him in his side, Roger kept the upper hand for another second as they circled each other. Gregory was slightly taller and more solidly built, but severely handicapped by his blinding hatred.

Laughing with bravado, Roger ducked another punch and got in a thump on Gregory's back. "Weren't you the one telling me how you always beat me?"

A fist hissed in the air past his ear and he knew that had been close. "Still not quite it yet," Roger baited. "Maybe I should let you practice up and come back."

The crack of fingers against bone was on Roger's chin this time. Wincing as he shook out his jaw, he still managed to smile. "Getting better."

Tightening his shoulders, Gregory fell into a fighting stance. He had sparred with Roger hundreds of times in the old gym. Pulling on the gloves and going at it until they were both bloody was a common way to deal with the problems of their youth. Now his knuckles were bare, and starting to bleed. The stinging felt good.

In hindsight, Roger could have used a nap before the fight. He didn't have the fuel of years of suppressed emotion behind him like Gregory, who seemed to have no intention of pulling his punches as another blow connected with his shoulder. Grunting as he shook out the abused muscle, he contemplated going to the dirt. It would be soft enough from the rain yesterday, and it couldn't be much worse. His blood was already trickling from the corner of his mouth.

He caught Gregory on the back of the knee with a curved kick and down they went. Straining muscles against each other like two lions fighting over a kill. They rolled over each other, twigs cracking beneath them and larger branches digging into their flesh.

Roger felt the rocks scrape against his skin through the fabric of his shirt. He tasted the copper of blood as Gregory bashed his head into the ground. Vision faded as they both fell into instinct. Rolling, shoving, gaining the upper hand for an instant only to be pushed back into the dirt again. Breath came in gasps between the echoing woosh of air being expelled as ribs collided with shoulders.

Both tired, but neither would concede. Roger felt his own exhaustion burn through his muscles, but he could see it reflected in Gregory's eyes. When the back of his head was again shoved into the dirt, he pushed up hard with his knee, throwing Gregory off to the side.

They lay there for an enternity, panting up at the stars with brused ribs complaining at every breath.

Still clinging to Roger's discarded jacket, Olivia approached them slowly, waiting for them to spring into battle once more. But they remained down.

Her concerned expression drifiting into his vision like the moon breaking through the clouds. Her fingers were cool against the sweat-soaked cheek of his face. "Darling." Olivia whispered softly. "What have you done now?"

Roger pulled himself to his feet slowly. Pausing as he rose to each level to make sure he was still intact. There would be bruises, bloody scratches to sting in the shower, but no permanent damage.

Reaching down a hand to his friend, he pulled Gregory up. He looked like hell, mud mixed with the blood on his face to give him a grotesque appearance. But his eyes were quiet. "Not bad for a couple of old men, eh Richards?"

Patting his old friend on the back, Gregory returned a cautious hug. "Not bad at all, Baxter. In fact, I think you've been practicing."

Rubbing his jaw ruefully, Roger grinned as he took back his jacket and tossed it over his shoulder. "Not enough I'd say."

Going to his side, Olivia carefully kissed a clean spot on Gregory's upper lip. "Better?" she asked softly.

Delicately wrapping his arm around her shoulders, Gregory nodded. "I feel like myself again."

Shuddering, Roger threw a wink at his friend. "Wait to you see who you feel like in the morning. I'm going to be off my run for a week with this kind of damage."

Stopping on the steps to look up at the sky, Olivia sighed, "Look at all the stars out here."

Sensing his moment had ended, Roger ducked towards the door. Gregory took a step towards him and extended his hand. "Thanks."

Clasping his hand in return, Roger winked roguishly, "Not a problem. As long as we keep these little bouts a few years apart, you're welcome."

Smiling down at his wife through brused lips, Gregory remembered how small she was. He ran a dirty thumb over her pale chin and sighed. "I find myself owing you an apology again. I let myself get completely out of control, if it hadn't been for Roger-"

Olivia silenced him with a shake of her head. "You wouldn't have hurt me darling-"

"I might have-" He interrupted, and this time she quieted him with a soft kiss, tasting the earth and the blood from his fight still on his lips.

Still mere centimeters away, she whispered, "I love you Gregory, even when you frighten me."

"I never mean to frighten you Liv." Resting his forehead against hers, Gregory's heart ached with regret.

She caught his face between her hands, ignoring the blood and the darkening bruises. "I know that. That's why I'm still here."

He kissed her forehead and left a brown spot of blood behind from his lip. "You are still here aren't you?"

Olivia's smile trembled with emotion. "I am, and I'm not going anywhere."


	16. Searching

Roger was just getting out of the shower when the phone rang. Wrapping the towel around his waist, he lifted the reciever, trying to figure out who knew where he was and would need to call him. "Hello?" He nearly dropped the towel when he recognized the voice on the other end.

"Dad! I've been trying to get you all night." His prodigal son sounded incredibly relieved.

"Ethan, hey shouldn't you be off learnng the ways of the California youth?" Wandering towards his suitcase, Roger started getting dressed, balancing the phone between his ear and his shoulder. "Is something wrong son? You sound a little flustered."

"I'm still in New York dad," Ethan replied, feeling rather foolish. "I didn't make it to California."

"Still in New York?" Roger sat on the bed to put on his socks. "This is a joke right? Pulling one over on your old dad?"

"I wish it was a joke." He answered sheepishly. "I got mugged on the plane."

"Mugged?" Roger dropped the sock he was trying to put on and had to dig around under the bed to find it. "How do you get mugged on a plane?"

"I'm just that talented dad." Ethan shot back dryly. "I don't know what happened, one minute I was talking to the guy in the seat next to me, and the next I'm waking up at the airport without any of my identification. Someone even took my wallet. I was in pretty big trouble."

"I'll say," His father exclaimed. "The Yanks don't take it lightly when you show up and can't prove who you are."

"Oh dad, you don't know the half of it, I thought I was going to get deported for awhile." Ethan shuddered for a moment but perked up. "But the Embassy snagged me a new passport and they're putting me on a plane to Sunset Beach in the morning. I should be there by noon."

"I'll make sure Gregory, Olivia and I get back before then." Roger decided firmly. "Wouldn't want you to have any more plane trouble now."

Ethan was touched. "Do you really want to cut your trip short like that? I wouldn't want to bring the Richardses back early. I mean, I haven't even met them yet." 

Throwing on his smoking jacket over his pajamas, Roger smiled, proud of his son's thoughtfulness. "Everything's done here. I'll talk to Gregory's pilot and we'll meet you at the airport."

"Thanks dad." Suddenly, Ethan remembered what he meant ask to from the moment he called. "Hey, can you call Sunset Beach for me? I haven't been able to get through and I wouldn't want anyone to worry about me."

Puzzled, Roger looked out the window into the night and tried to sort out his thoughts. "Olivia just talked to Caitlin this evening. She said everything was fine. Come to think of it, she even mentioned you were there."

"There must be some kind of mistake dad." Genuine confusion was all Ethan had. "I've been in New York all day. I don't know why Caitlin would think I was there."

"Neither do I." Drumming his fingers on the tabletop didn't make anything spring to mind. "I'm going to talk to Olivia. See if I can get all of this straightened out."

"All right. Dad, love you."

"Tomorrow then. Love you too sport." Setting the phone down, Roger checked his watch. It was pushing three in the morning. If they were still awake he might not want to interrupt them. He paced in front of the door for a moment. After a few minutes, it was still nagging him. Why had Caitlin thought Ethan was there? Had he just misunderstood Olivia?

Tucking his room key in his pocket, he headed down the hallway to their room. Roger put his ear to the door. He couldn't hear anything so he knocked. He didn't have to wait long.

Olivia answered the door and managed a sleepy smile. "Roger, what can I do for you?" She leaned her head against the side of the door, behind her he could hear the water running in the bathroom.

"Where's your darling?" She really was cute in Gregory's oversized pajamas, with her dark hair tumbling in a mess down her shoulders.

"Oh he's in the shower, come in." Olivia left the door and headed to the bed. "He wanted to get cleaned up before-" She dropped off, turning back to Roger with an impish smile. "Well, before we started our little project."

Watching her flop onto the bed and curl into a ball, he remembered why he missed Lillian. "It's a good thing I caught you then. Ethan just called."

Olivia patted the bed next to her. "Sit down, tell me what he thinks about Sunset Beach."

He sat down and tilted his head towards her in confusion. "Now that's the odd part love. Ethan's still in New York."

"New York?" Yawning, Olivia tried to get her exhausted mind to cooperate. "How can he be in New York? Caitlin just said he was there, at the house. She even said he was handsome…"

"That's what doesn't make any sense Olivia." Roger counted off on his fingers. "Ethan says he's in New York and Caitlin says he's in Sunset Beach. He may be an amazing young man, but he can't very well be in two places at once."

Propping her head up on the her hand, she looked dumbfounded. "I don't understand."

"Neither do I love." Roger shook his head slowly. "Can I use your phone? I want to talk to Caitlin myself."

As she nodded, she closed her eyes. "If I'm asleep when Gregory gets out of the shower. Apologize for me."

"Of course love." She didn't even hear his response before she was asleep. He watched her face relax into sleep. Then picking up the phone, he spun around the number for the California house on the old radial phone. It rang four times before the answering machine came on and Roger hung up with the button. "She's not picking up. Dammit."

Gregory emerged from the bathroom with a puff of steam. He looked like a new man now that he was clean. "What's wrong?"

"Neither of your children is answering the phone." Roger tapped his finger on the phone irritably.

Toweling off his hair, Gregory smiled gently at the sleeping form of his wife as he sat on the end of the bed. "Your son's there as well."

"He's not." Roger bit his lip in thought. "He's in New York."

Touching the sore spot on his chin, Gregory hung up his towel and looked at himself in the mirror. None of the bruises would be serious. "But Caitlin said-"

Roger folded his arms and stroked his chin thoughtfully. "I know what Caitlin said. Ethan was mugged on the plane to New York. Someone took everything. His passport, his wallet, everything."

"This doesn't make any sense." Gregory settled onto the bed, thinking that Olivia looked like an angel when she was sleeping.

"I can't figure out why anyone would want to pretend to be Ethan. But I'm going to think about it." Roger headed for the door, the gears of his mind still turning. "Can you two be ready by seven? I know it doesn't leave you much time, but we're not suppose to be home until tomorrow night, and I want to catch them offguard."

Sighing as he lay down next to his wife, Greogry agreed, even though he would have rather slept all day. "All right. Would you shut off the light?"

The switch clicked off as the door shut softly. Gregory wrapped an arm around Olivia's waist, drawing her to him as he pulled the covers over them. Her body was soft, yielding to his touch as he ran his hands over her side. Without opening her eyes, Olivia arched her back against him, finding his hands on her stomach and holding them there. "Did he really say seven?"

He rested his chin on her shoulder, toying with her fingers playfully. "I think he did."

"Doesn't Roger know that's only four hours from now?" Olivia complained as Gregory's hands found the buttons of her borrowed pajamas. "Is he insane?"

He lowered one hand to her knee and squeezed. "Four hours sounds like plenty of time to me."

She gasped and tried to get his hand away before it really got uncomfortable. "If you're really thinking about that, you'll keep your hands off of my knee."

"I thought you were tired." Gregory rolled her over to look into her eyes and she gave him a seductive smile. "Just where should I put my hands?"

Coyly, she undid the top button of her shirt. "I have a few ideas."

He leaned closer, feeling her breath aganst his cheek. Her fingers dropped to the second button, leaving bare the inner curves of her breasts. Olivia undid the third button, then the fourth. Gregory waited impatiently for her instructions, enjoying the view of the pale skin of her stomach. Taking his hands, she sat up and slid them under her shirt, letting his hands cup the cool skin of her breasts. "Is this a good place for your hands darling?"

He kneaded them, watching as she titlted her head back and let him part the shirt covering her chest. Tracing their shape with slow fingers, Gregory teased the nipples into peaks with his thumbs. He could spend hours on her breasts and tonight she wanted him to be happy. She wanted to chase the pain from his eyes permanently.

Her breath came quicker as the intensity of his touch increased. One hand left her breasts to stroke up the inside of her thigh. Olivia caught his hand and brought it back to her chest. "You're teasing."

Kissing the hollow of her neck on his way up to her lips, Gregory laughed under his breath. "I thought you liked to be teased." He traced the corner of her mouth with his tongue and coaxed a moan from the back of her throat as he took her onto his lap. Her feet slide around behind him and he got another chance at her knee. Taunting her until she squealed away from his touch let him flip her onto her back, he caught her wrists and folded them gently down to the bed.

"You like it when I make you beg." He slipped his knee between her legs and ground against her for emphasis. Her pupils widened and Gregory watched the color creep into her face. Taking both her wrists in one hand, he ran the other up her thigh, this time politely avoiding her knee as he explored his way up to her hips. Olivia kissed him desperately, fighting her hands free to pull his head down to her and forgetting completely about the bruises on his lips. He took the pain in stride as caressed her slowly through the smooth fabric of her bottoms.

Rewarded with by the whimper he recieved when he pressed inward with his thumb, he continued to toy with her. Rocking her hips against his leg only added to the tightness between her legs. Gregory's methodical patience was driving her mad, adding to the rush of blood in her head. Both of his hands dropped to her hips, letting him attack her breasts with his mouth. Olivia ran her fingers through his hair, writhing beneath him as he ruthlessly continued to tease her with his fingers.

Then he left her unfulfilled, moving his hands back to the naked skin of her stomach as he bent to her with a wicked grin. She crushed herself against him, half-insane with his continued denial. "Gregory." The word hissed from her mouth and he ignored her, finding the hollow in her side beneath her rib cage and conquering it hungrily.

Olivia knew he wanted her, she could feel it in his hard arousal, but Gregory was in control. He would take her when he was ready. When she moaned his name and begged him to take her he might relent. Until then she was clay in his hands. Alternately seeking and fleeing from the touch of his hands as he worked her into a frenzy.

He liked the way her eyes seared into him, how the dampness of her sweat felt against his bare skin when she pressed against him. He could have plunged inside of her and lost himself in the wet darkness, but then Gregory wouldn't have the pleading whine of her breath as he ran his teeth up the inside of her thighs.

"Please." She moaned into his ear. "Please-" Olivia was starting to tremble against him, her nerves burning with his presence. "Oh God, please."

Gregory pushed up from her and studied her against the white of the bedsheets. Her hair was a tangled mass of curls, wet with perspiration and splayed out beneath her head. Her eyes gleamed with arousal, and her chest rose and fell quickly as her breath came in pants. He had done this to her. He could bring her to this place where she would do anything just to have him keep touching her. In this moment, he was her world. Olivia needed him, her hands were begging for him as they dug into his back.

Tearing her pajama bottoms off, Gregory finally took her, driving into her as a half-scream ripped from her throat. Then they moved together, crushing their bodies together in the desperate search for release. She was already so close. He could taste the abandon in her kisses, feel it as her body shuddered into his arms. Clinging to him, her fingers dug into his shoulder blades. Olivia came with a wordless cry of something akin to pain, her body contracting around him as her nails scraped across his skin. Emptying himself in response, he covered her with his body as her shaking continued.

Crying into his shoulder, she had no words for him as he stroked the hair out of her face. Gregory pulled the sheets back over them with one hand as Olivia sobbed into his chest. She cried after making love rarely, and it nearly always surprised him.

Once she had tried to explain it, telling him that sometimes it simply overwhelmed her. Olivia insisted only he had ever wrought this kind of emotion from her. It was how she knew beyond any doubt that he was her true love. He was her soulmate, that reflection of everything that made her life worthwhile. She could feel all of that when they made love and that continued to amaze him.


	17. Coming home

Cole snuck out of the bed and pulled on his pants. Caitlin lay on her stomach, asleep. She was still in her clothes. Considering how late they had finally gone to bed, Caitlin would easily sleep most of the day. He had a couple hours to search the house in peace. As he collected his tools from bottom of his suitcase, Cole contemplated his new relationship with Caitlin Richards.

She was sweet, he thought as he watched her sleeping. Incredibly sheltered and innocent, she was also unbelievably trusting. The poor girl had obviously never been out of her father's sight. She probably didn't even know how to breath without Gregory's advice.

Caitlin had never been part of the long-term plan. She was just supposed to get him into the house. He should have been gone with the jewels last night. Would have been if it weren't for Gregory's paranoia. Mr. Richards was proving to be a more compentent adversary then the last business man he had squared off with. Then there was the girl.

She really was lovely, shy yet eager to please. She would have bedded him had he pressed the issue, but Cole preferred a more gentlemanly approach. In time, he could make Caitlin his as well as the jewels. Wanting for a strong male figure would certainly drive her into his arms if Gregory continued down the path he was blazing.

According to Caitlin, her father was distracted lately. She had even accused him of no longer paying attention when she talked to him, citing an incident with a dress Caitlin had insisted on showing him. Gregory was supposed to care about everything she did, and now that care was slipping. It fit with the information he had gleaned from Ethan.

From the Baxter boy's insight, Cole had leanred the head of the Richards clan had new plans for his family and Caitlin only played a minor role. Leaving her free to make his stay in Sunset Beach tolerable if he couldn't procure the jewels in a timely manner. Cole had certainly been with less interesting women for jewels that weren't worth a fraction of his current project.

Closing the door quietly behind him, he tiptoed through the empty hallway. The son, Sean and his friend Tiffany were both out. Something about the Deep, or the beach. He hadn't been paying exact attention, but he was certain he could trust them to be gone for at least an hour. Careful on the staircase, he didn't make a sound as he crept back into Gregory's darkened study.

Cole shut the door behind him and locked it. Using a tiny pliers wrapped in electrical tape to muffle the current flowing through the tiny tripwire, he opened the painting without tripping the alarm. He smiled at the grim black safe. "Gotcha."

He leaned his ear into the side of the safe and twisted the combination lock. Listening to the soft clicks of the mechanism he interpreted the sound and chose his tools accordingly. After that, it only took a few minutes of tinkering to swing open the safe.

The safe was a disappointment. Papers, neatly put away in manila folders. Stock and bond papers, copies of birth certificates, four passports in a neat bundle and the marriage license. He picked up the license and gave it a cursory glance, nothing extraordinary. _Gregory Alan Richards, Olivia Isobel Blake, November 22nd, 1975._ He peeked at the passports, solidifying the faces of the Richards family into his memory. Cole had learned from experience never to pass up free information about anyone.

Gregory looked stern, no trace of a smile touched his photograph on his passport. His eyes were cold as well, calculating and reptilian. He was a challenge, a man used to ruling all that he saw. A man imbued with a self-confidence that made him seemed carved out of stone.

Olivia was just the opposite. She was flesh and blood, her eyes echoing a tulmultuous life. Her smile was melancholy. If there were any cracks in Gregory's armor, they sprung from her.

Placing everything neatly back into the safe he shut it and replaced the painting over it. After resetting the tripwire, Cole left the study door slightly open, as he had found it. Where else would they keep the Deschanel jewels?

The master bedroom was an obvious choice, so he headed back up the stairs. Growing bold, he didn't bother to lock the door to the bedroom as he searched. After all, it would be hours before anyone would notice him.

The jet circled the runway at Sunset Beach's private airstrip, waiting their turn to land. Gregory ran his hand softly down Olivia's shoulder, wondering if the altitude change had woken her up. Roger looked down at her from across the cabin and shook his head.

"Still out." Seeming entirely innocent as he studied Gregory's new financial projections, Roger looked over the tops of his reading glasses and smiled naughtily. "Maybe you should have let her get some more sleep."

Nonplussed, Gregory took a long sip of coffee. "It's not always my idea."

Roger didn't look up as he grabbed the thick stack of personel files. "So it's Olivia's fault she's tired? I didn't see you as the type to make her do all of the work."

Raising his eyebrows, he chuckled as he took out his yellow legal pad with his free hand. "Maybe you should get remarried. Spend some time worrying about your own intimacies for a change."

Tapping a pen on the files, Roger conveyed his disagreement with a snort. "Where's the fun in that? I say Richards, who do you think I am?"

"I thought you were the one who told me marriage was the thing you missed most about Lillian." Gregory replied dryly.

"Lillian is the one thing I miss most about marriage." Roger corrected. "The dates, the dinners with other couples- all of that's just a window dressing for the simple pleasure of crawling into bed next to a warm, lovely woman."

Smiling to himself with amusement, Gregory continued condensing his arbitration for Monday. However, he was making more headway with the notes in the margins then his legal work. _Pick up Olivia's necklace. Make sure the masks arrive on time from the artists. Have Alice's watch cleaned. Send out best suit before Friday._ He should have been focusing on work. Roger certainly wasn't having in trouble falling into the business of Sunset Beach.

Roger didn't have his wife asleep in his lap. Olivia's head was heavy and his legs had been threatening to fall asleep for the entire flight. Having her close was worth the discomfort. Gregory didn't know when he wanted to let her out of his sight again.

Startled as he realized Roger was trying to talk to him, he caught his friend mid-sentance. "-public relations director for the new university hospital."

"I'm sorry Baxter, I missed what you just said."

Roger set down the files and caught his eye seriously as he repeated himself. "We don't have a public relations director for the new university hospital. Are you promoting someone from Liberty?"

"Not exactly." Gregory replied thoughtfully. "I have an idea I've been toying with." He set down his pen on the seat next to his legal pad. "Ethan's on a successful career track. Do you think it helped Ethan's motivation to see both of his parents working?"

Following Gregory's train of thought brought a lines of thought to Roger's forehead. "Most likely. He knows who his real role model is. My ex's a pillar of the community at home. I'm just an old country doctor to him. Why?"

"I've put a great deal of thought into this, and I'm going to ask the board of directors to appoint Olivia public relations director for the hospital project."

Roger leaned back into the seat and shook his head in awe. "Set an example for your trust-fund babies by putting your dear wife to work?"

"I'm just giving her the responsibilites I know she can handle." He explained with a wicked smile. "We need someone we trust to run the communications for the university."

The doctor raised an eyebrow. "And what about her maternity leave?"

"Assuming your clomiphene powder did its job-"

"Which we'll know a month." Roger finished.

Gregory waved off the concern. "I'll get her a capable assistant. She won't be away from her work long. She has more drive then I give her credit for. Liv might even enjoy the challenge."

"You'll enjoy having her in an office down the hallway," Roger read Gregory's motives expertly. "Think of all those business lunches you'll be able to put to better use with your wife in the business."

With a smile still teasing the corner of his mouth, Gregory went back to his arbitration. "Simply a side benefit."

"Tell me where to sign up for those kind of benefits, won't you?" Roger teased as he picked up his pen and filled the empty blank of public relations director with a flourish. _Olivia Richards._

The plane touched down to the runway with a gentle bump. Gregory's coffee didn't even move from its cupholder. Olivia sighed in her sleep, but stubbornly refused to awaken. Wishing he could share her sleep, Gregory yawned and looked out the window at the bright California sunshine. "Tell me again why we had to leave Wisconsin at dawn?"

"Someone is impersonating my son. I want to catch him in the act." Roger explained simply as he started tucking away his papers into his briefcase. "Don't you want to know who spent the night in your house, with your children?"

"I could have known that if you let us call the police." Gregory had to work slowly to replace everything into his briefcase with only one hand.

"There's something fishy about this entire situation." Roger thought out loud. "I'm trying to think of everyone who knew Ethan was coming to Sunset Beach without me."

"And?"

"And it's a short list." Roger said grimly as he tried to retrace his steps.

Joe Murray's gleaming white smile peered into the cabin. "Gentlemen we have arrived in Sunset Beach. The car will be pulling around to collect you and the lady in a just a moment." The pilot announced as he opened the hatch for the door.

Steps met the side of the plane and Joe headed down to get the luggage from the cargo compartment. Roger grabbed both cases and Olivia's purse as he went to the door. "You've got her?"

Gregory nodded, his face taking a gentle light. "I've got her." He extracting himself from beneath her head carefully, brushing a hand across her forehead in an attempt to wake her. Olivia only stirred slightly. "You're going to make this difficult aren't you?" He whispered ruefully. "I suppose it's my own fault for keeping you awake all night."

Coaxing her up to the sitting position and then to her feet was actually easier then he expected. Though she was determined not to wake up, she put up very little resistance as he picked her up and cradled her to his chest. "You're going to send me back to the gym if we do this more often sweetheart."

Cautiously finding his way down the steps, Gregory surprised himself with how quickly everything came back. Carrying Olivia up to bed when she fell asleep waiting for him to finish his work. Listening to her explain how lonely their bed was without him and trying to fight the desire to leave everything undone and crawl into bed with her.

At first, he lost to that desire, but then, slowly, work won out again and again. Until she stopped confessing her loneliness and went quietly to bed without him. How many times had she done that before she started to doubt her own importance? Before she stopped believing.

Roger opened the door to the limousine and helped him get Olivia buckled in. "You're rather gallant today."

"Momentary weakness, I assure you." Gregory defended himself weakly as he made himself comfortable next to her in the car.

Roger's disbelief made him chuckle. "You're going to have to admit it eventually- She makes you soft in the head. A real nutter."

Gregory's lack of response only encouraged him.

"Oh she's got you, brain to bollocks, the full monty wrapped around her little finger." 

The look in Gregory's eyes had meant death to lesser men. 

Roger only raised his eyebrows innocently. "I'm just calling it as I see it Richards. Didn't learn a bloody thing in psychology."

Gregory had to change the subject. "Just what do you intend to do with our imposter?"

"Kill him, toss the body in the ocean." Roger shrugged. "I suppose whatever his crimes merit. Maybe he just wanted to see the house, meet the lovely Caitlin."

Neither of them had a real answer as they pulled into the driveway.


	18. Monster

Roger whistled as he looked at the house, letting his gaze travel up and up. "dn house looks bigger every time I see it."

Leaning on the open door of the car, Gregory looked critically at his own house for a second. "Yours is similiar."

"True." Roger agreed reluctantly. "But mine is a manor, all Gothic stone and vines and ancient history. I even have gargoyles. I'm just a little jealous that you don't have the little beasties."

Tim took the luggage from the back of the car and headed for the door, holding it open for Roger. Both men disappeared into the house. 

"Just you and me again sweetheart." Gregory whispered as he leaned into the car, wondering how he should wake her up. "I'll make you a deal. You wake up long enough to get into the house and I'll make sure you get up to bed."

He kissed her, trying to coax her awake as gently as possible. "Olivia."

Sighing without opening her eyes, Olivia ran a hand up his arm, keeping his head next to hers. "Why don't we just stay here?"

"Tempting." He teased, taking in the lavender smell of her hair. "But Tim needs to put the car into the garage and both of us should probably get some sleep." He wrapped an arm firmly around her back as she stood up, blinking in the sunlight.

"When did we get all the way here?" 

His heart was liquid. The warmth creeping into his chest was a sensation he hadn't felt in years. When she blinked sleepily and smiled at him, he felt twenty years younger. Timeless and hopelessly in love again. They walked slowly up to the door, he couldn't force himself to hurry when the sunlight glinted in her hair. Gregory stopped her just in front of the threshold. Tim and Rose were taking all of the luggage upstairs. Roger was nowhere to be seen.

She looked up at him with interest, eyes still threatening to close. "What is it darling?"

"Just got lost in thought for awhile." Gregory looked away, his voice trailing off into the afternoon. Impulsively, he scooped her up and carried her over the threshold, laughing as she squirmed in surprise. "Welcome home."

Relaxing into his grip, she rested her head on the inside of his neck as he set her feet back down near the stairs. "You're certainly being romantic." Olivia brushed a stray piece of hair off of his forehead and tried to fight the knot of fear in her stomach. The closer they got this time, the more it would hurt if they fell apart again.

"Things between us have been-" Gregory almost looked like he was about to cry. His voice was rough, conveying the tightness in his throat. "Frankly, amazing recently, and I don't want- I mean I don't think- I can't go back to the way things were."

Hugging him tightly enough to force him back to the wall, Olivia fought her own impulse to burst into tears. "So this is a beginning."

Gregory clung to her, feeling the emotion arc between them and slice into his heart. "I'd like it to be."

It was all she could do to nod. Olivia swallowed, trying to chase the lump out of her throat as he took in the scent of him. "I'd like that too."

Cole reached for the wall safe, it was almost open- Then he heard voices in the hallway and his heart started to race. A man's voice, speaking softly, his voice too deep to be Sean's. He replaced the painting and ran for the door like lightning. His hand was on the knob when the door started to open inward. The voices had reached him.

"Darling it'll do us both good to sleep in our own bed-" That was a woman, she was opening the door with her back to him.

Cole jumped back as if the door had burned him. He looked around wildly and fled through the door that opened on to the balcony.

Olivia tumbled through the door, Gregory's hands catching her waist. She was laughing as she leaned against him for support. Lost in his renewed appreciation for his wife, he missed the figure slinking out along the balcony.

Cole watched for a second through the curtains as they collapsed onto the bed in and held each other. That would be the ruler of the household then, Gregory with the eyes made of ice. He now seemed to have more tenderness for his wife then Cole would have thought possible. Kneeling behind the sill, he had a full view of them through the curtain. He could see Gregory playing with her hair, and hear their soft laughter.

"Darling, sometimes it is all right to just sleep in bed." Olivia's voice cut off as she yawned again. "Later…we have all the time in the world."

"I'll hold you to that." Gregory promised as he leaned down to take off their shoes. Dropping them to the floor made a few soft clunks against the carpet. He was curled around his wife, his arm around her shoulders, protective even when she was safe in their bedroom.

He pictured Olivia's eyes, the deceptive fragility of her smile in the passport photo. Cole looked at his watch, giving himself another three minutes before Caitlin would be confronted. These two were obviously not going to catch him, they both seemed unwilling to move off the bed, but it was definitely to his advantage that they remain.

"Is Roger checking on the kids?" Roger was the Dr. Baxter, the father of the innocent Ethan. Who had given him so much useful information.

"Sean and Tiffany went out early this morning, Rose said they couldn't resist the beach. Caitlin's sleeping. Apparently she and 'Ethan' were up all night. Talking." Gregory didn't sound very concerned, from Caitlin's descriptions of her father, he had expected a more intense reaction. The ruler of house Richards seemed only interested in his wife at the moment. Which, though surprising, was going to prove very useful.

Olivia was the key to the jewels. It was obvious in the quiet lilt of Gregory's voice when he talked to her. Gregory's armor might be perfect, but his feelings for her cut right through to his heart.

Cole had heard enough. Moving along the balcony, he crawled in through the window to the guest room. Caitlin was just waking up. She smiled sleepily at him. "Hey stranger."

He dropped to his knees next to the bed, putting a finger over her lips. "Shh…" Smiling to keep her calm, Cole listened for movement in the hallway. They were alone, for now. "I have a lot to tell you, and I don't have much time. I need you just to listen to me. My life may be in danger. Okay?"

Though confused, Cole's pleas for his life touched her and sent a thrill of excitement up her spine. Caitlin nodded.

"Thank you. Oh thank you. You don't know how important this is for me." Taking her hands, he started his confession. "My name is Cole. I pretended to be Ethan, I swear I didn't mean any harm to him or anyone else. You must be angry, and I'd understand if you never wanted to see me again-"

Dropping her hands he went to the door and listened at it for a moment, giving the impression of his panic. "But if your parents find me-"

"Daddy will kill you." She agreed as she went back to the window. Tim was moving the car into the garage, but no one was around the back of the house. "Drop down to the patio. If you go through the garden, no one will see you. I'll go find them, keep them from seeing you."

Crawling back through the window, Cole stopped and reached for her. "You don't have to do this for me."

"Maybe I'm not doing it for you." Caitlin kissed him, smiling with the thrill excitement his lips brought. "Meet me, tonight. I'll be in the Java Web after dinner. Now go, get out of here."

He dropped into the yard with a thump, keeping down but blowing her a kiss as he disappeared into the garden. Caitlin floated out of the room. Whoever Cole was, he was certainly the most interesting thing to happen to her in a very long time and it didn't matter what she had to do. She was going to see him again. She had a secret and he was gorgeous.

Gregory had never been one for naps. Even when he was as exhausted as he was at the moment, he couldn't get his mind to stop running. Sometimes it felt like his thoughts owned him instead of the other way around. The clock on the bedside table ticked past two pm. Wishing he could fade into sleep as well as Olivia had, he knew he needed to get up and deal with Caitlin. She had either lied to her mother on the phone or been taken in by some kind of con artist. Neither possibility was something he liked. He should have been paying more attention, talked to Caitlin personally, but he'd been out of his mind.

He gave himself another blissful few moments just to lie there. When she was sleeping everything disappeared from her face, all the hurt and guilt that came between them, gone and forgotten until she woke up.

Wishing it were as easy to banish his own guilt, Gregory straightened her out on the bed so her head was on the pillows and sat on the edge of the bed. Watching her sleep made his thoughts drift to his actions. Perhaps he should have just been honest with her from the beginning. Fully confessed his fears for the future, explained how he couldn't leave this world knowing that everything he had ever done was going to disappear. Maybe he shouldn't have drugged her.

But how could he have foreseen the sweetness of the last few days? Olivia's devotion and dependence were an intoxicating combination. He felt powerful when she looked at him with unwavering respect, strong when she reached for him for support. He was weak when he failed her. Petty and selfish when he ignored her. And she still trusted him. She was still here. Already she had taken his subtle hint that he wanted another child and magnified it into a goal.

"I'll learn to trust you. And someday, I hope I'll deserve you." Gregory whispered to himself as he fled the bedroom before his heart got away from him any further.

Roger was waiting for him in his study, feet tossed up on the desk. "Wondering if you'd make it back down."

Gregory shook his head wryly. "I was hoping you'd give up and leave."

"Spoiled that, didn't I?" Roger gestured the chair on Gregory's side of the desk. "Have a seat. I have found our imposter. Needed a little help from the NYPD to find him on the tapes at the airport, but this is the man who pretended to be my son." He tossed the faxed photo on to the desk with a smirk of satisfaction.

"He's attractive; no wonder Caitlin was so quick to trust him." Picking it up thoughtfully, Gregory studied the young man who had infiltrated his home. "In fact, he's rather too good-looking to be a simple thief."

"Right on the nose Richards." Reaching for a stack of papers from the printer, Roger added them to the desk. "He's an international jewel thief, gigolo and all-around breaker of women's hearts. Almost have to admire him. Can't blame Caitlin from bringing him home. He's a professional."

Gregory searched through the extensive Interpol printout. "This Cole St. John has an impressive resume, almost too impressive for Sunset Beach."

"That's what I can't figure out." Roger admitted as he drummed his fingers on the desk. "Not that you haven't spoiled Olivia with an impressive collection, but it's not worth the trip to the states. Why follow Ethan just to get here? What's in your house?"

"Del left Olivia the Deschanel jewels when he died." Gregory explained as he dropped the papers to the desk.

"That would be worth the plane ticket then wouldn't it?" Roger whistled slowly. Watching Gregory's face made him suspicious. "Should I ask why Olivia got them?"

Entwining his fingers neatly, Gregory grimaced at the remembrance. "She got them to get to me. Del's final way to take a stab at us."

"He always did have a thing for her." Roger admitted softly as he turned nostalgic. "Then again, who didn't in those days? She was gorgeous." Jumping out of the chair, he found the picture of Olivia on the bookcase. "Still is."

"She was still in love with me." Gregory explained grimly. "Del tried to get her to run away with him, but she couldn't because she still had feelings for me. Sometimes I wonder just how close I came to losing her."

"No matter how charming Del tried to be, he was probably still a good way off." Roger retorted lightly. "Olivia couldn't leave you. She's too smitten."

"I hope you're right."

"I am." Roger clapped his hands together and changed the subject easily. "Caitlin volunteered to show me around town and let me get to know the city again. I think she wants to hear all the sordid details of your youth, but it seemed like a brilliant idea to me so I've accepted."

"Good," Gregory agreed as he moved to retake his desk. "See what else you can find out about her time with this "Cole" character. I have a feeling we haven't seen the last of him."

Roger paused for a moment in the doorway. "I'm going to assume you can find something to do with yourself all day?"

"I will manage, somehow." Gregory replied dryly as he straightened the mess Roger had been able to make on his desk. "Have you seen Sean and Tiffany?"

"Sean's in the kitchen. Want me to ask him to pop in?"

"I'd appreciate it."

Roger gave him a quick nod and returned a moment later. "Boy's on his way."

"Thanks." Gregory added as an afterthought. He filed away the papers on Cole, trusting Roger to find out if there was something more he needed to know from Caitlin. He didn't expect this jewel thief to give up after only one night, but the Deschanel jewels were safely locked away in the bank vault. Anything they actually kept in the house could be replaced. He was straightening papers and trying to figure out what his next move would be if he wanted to steal those dammed jewels when Sean came in.

He cleared his throat, not wanting to have to address his father before he knew he was there.

Gregory looked up and managed not to look annoyed. Sean was surprised. "Hey dad, Dr. Baxter said you wanted to see me? You need something?"

His father pointed to the chair and actually smiled. "It's good to see you Sean. Please, sit down."

Sean remained standing, thinking it was all a formality. "When did you get back?"

"About an hour ago." Gregory sank into his chair and actually yawned, covering his mouth with his hand. "Sorry son, it's been a long couple of days."

Sean took the chair and sat nervously. "Caitlin said you had to go out east because your father died."

"Nicholas left a lot of things to take care of." There was genuine emotion in Gregory's voice that Sean couldn't place right away.

"It was nice of you to take mom with you." He admitted begrudgingly. "She misses you a lot when you're gone." Sean refrained from adding that she would have started drinking again with his father gone.

"I needed her with me." His father sounded honest again, it was starting to become unnerving. "It wouldn't have been a pleasant trip without her."

"Where is mom?" Sean asked politely, realizing he hadn't seen her around at in since she had returned.

His father smiled and something went soft in his eyes. "Your mother's sleeping. We didn't get to bed until quite late and we had to come back early this morning."

"Because Cate picked up the wrong guy from the airport." Sean replied. Noting the quiet way his father was talking about his mother. This marked a week of them being on good terms. Nearly a record where they were concerned.

"It wasn't her fault." Gregory explained firmly. "That 'guy' is a professional jewel thief. It's his job to convince naïve young women he's something he's not."

Sean had cringed, expecting a reprimand for insulting Caitlin, but his father continued to clean up his desk. "So what do you want?"

Setting down the papers he was trying to sort, Gregory looked his son in the eye and wondered where he had started to go wrong with the boy. Probably from the moment he was conceived. "I just wanted to see how you were. How's Tiffany? Is she looking forward to the party tomorrow night?"

A week ago Sean would have just walked away, knowing that some cruel dig at his choice of friends was coming. Today there was something different. His father actually sounded interested. Gregory had put down his work and looked at him. Even now, he was waiting patiently for Sean to respond. "Tiffany's in her room. Looks like she got the flu."

"Oh," Gregory sounded disappointed. It was just getting weird talking to him, Sean thought to himself. "Did you ask Roger to check up on her?"

"Yeah, he did as soon as I mentioned she was sick." Sean nodded quickly. "Dr. Baxter said she was fine, just needs to rest for a few days."

"You can call him Roger." Gregory volunteered gently. "He may be my friend, but he's certainly never stood on ceremony."

Sean grew bold and picked up a paper from the desk to see what his father was working on. Wondering how long it would take for Gregory to snatch it away. "Is he going to stay with us for awhile?"

"Roger and Ethan both will until they decide how long they want to stay in Sunset Beach." He watched Sean look over the building statement Roger had left out and handed his son the pile of papers that went with it. "That will make more sense if you look at it in context. All of these pages explain the graph you see on page six."

Sean took them all, and looked at it to see if his father was trying to trick him somehow. There was a graph on page six. It was just too strange. He stood up, dropping the papers to the desk. "Okay, what changed?"

Gregory leaned back in his chair and thought seriously about the question, for once listening to his son before dismissing him outright. "Has anyone ever told you anything about my father?"

Sean shook his head. "Just that he died. Mom mentioned something about him being insane, but she wasn't very detailed about it."

"Nicholas had Alzheimer's disease." Gregory explained softly, looking out the window instead of at his son's rapt face. "But that wasn't why you never met him." He took a deep breath and thought of what Olivia would do. Wondering how she had always managed to connect with this boy.

"We never got along, my father and I." He turned wearily back to his son and sighed. "I know we've never seen eye to eye either, but Nicholas and I were extreme. My mother was always sick when I was growing up, and it was just Nicholas and I. I could never do anything well enough. No matter what happened, I was a disappointment. When my mother died I ran. I ran all the way to California and never looked back."

Sean's gentle eyes looked so much like Olivia's as he took it all in. Why hadn't he noticed it before? "I was still running when you were born." Gregory straightened himself in his chair and really wondered what kind of a monster he had been to this boy. How could he possibly start to undo that kind of damage? Was it already lost between them?

"Sometimes I think I'm still running." He leaned forward to rest his head in his hands. It was incredibly heavy all of a sudden.

"I'm sorry." And he was. That amazed even Sean. He felt bad for his father. That had never happened before, they had never talked. But here they were. Sitting across from each other and his father was sharing things. Things he hadn't even told Caitlin.

"No, Sean I owe you the apology." Regret was the newest surprise for Sean in his father's voice. "I owe you a lot more then that. I don't even know what we have between us."

"Not too much." Sean admittedly softly as he sighed and took his turn at confessing. "I heard you talking to mom."

Gregory stood up and pointed to the living room. "I need coffee." Sean followed him, taking his own cup and staring at it while his father waited for him to finish. "What did you hear?"

"Some stuff I wasn't supposed to I think." He looked up and forced himself not to blush. "You asked mom to start over."

Gregory sank into the couch, taking a long sip of coffee. "I did."

Sean took the plunge and sat down uncomfortably next to his father. "Can I ask why?"

His father leaned back, searching the ceiling for answers. "Honestly?" Taking a deep breath, he almost laughed. "When your mother looks at me, I can actually believe."

"Believe?" Sean repeated quietly.

"That I'm not a monster." Gregory set the empty coffee cup on the table and sighed as he stood up. "At least, not entirely." He gave Sean a weak smile, straightening his shirt and heading for the door.

It was all Sean could do to watch him go, and then he sat there and watching the empty coffee cup. Feeling the world had become entirely surreal around him and no one had bothered to tell him it had changed.


	19. Tango

Gregory returned just before dinner. He took the back stairs, wanting to set up his surprises before Olivia even knew he was back. His arms were full of boxes as he hurried up the stairs. He dropped the top one off in Sean's room. He didn't bother to leave a note, just the receipt taped neatly on top. If Sean wanted to return it, as he did all his presents, the least he could do for him would be to make it easy.

He left the ornately wrapped box from Olivia's necklace on her pillow. Smiling to himself when he pictured it resting around her neck. That left the other three boxes. He put one on the vanity in the bathroom, left the other in the closet and brought the last one with him down to the landing on the front staircase. He left it on the steps as he walked into the living room.

A living room that looked like it had been hit by a minor hurricane while he was out. All the furniture was piled haphazardly in front of the study and the front door. Even the bar was pushed back into the wall. The stereo filled the room with music, an odd mix of sensuous violin piano. Tango, Gregory realized as he caught sight of the people in his living room.

Remaining in the shadows of the staircase, he burst into an amused smile. Ethan, the real Ethan Baxter, had arrived. He was a younger, bookish version of his father, just as Roger had claimed. He brushed his reddish-blonde hair out of his glasses and extended his arm across the room, beckoning-

He had to come down a step to see who Ethan was waiting for. The lithe little blonde crossed the floor and took Ethan's hand only to throw it away and twirl around him, grinning wickedly. Perfectly in tune with the music, the sight of Alex Mitchum brought a happy sigh to Gregory's chest. She was vivacious, alive with energy and owning every second of the tango with the young Baxter boy.

He could hear Roger's voice ring out over the music. "Watch her footwork, see how she keeps her weight balanced on her back foot?"

Gregory went down another step, to see more of the excitement. Roger was addressing Caitlin, trying to explain to her the nuances of ballroom dance. Caitlin watched Alex's feet, looking perplexed, but definitely excited.

Sean took over as Ethan switched to help Caitlin. Gregory was impressed immediately with his son. Sean knew his way around the intricacies of the dance floor and he was a good height for Alex. He had lessons at his last school and had obvious done quite well. Gregory remembered seeing the note on Sean's report card, but he had never expected to see the results. Roger stood in the middle, alternately critiquing and praising Caitlin and Ethan.

Caitlin was the beginner, she had never shown much interest in dance and Gregory had never pushed the idea. She was picking it up and laughing when she stepped on her partner's feet. She looked just as happy as Sean.

The music sped up a notch, challenging the dancers to keep up. Sean answered by dipping Alex low enough to brush her blonde hair against the floor. Caitlin clapped and cheered, Ethan yelled something to his father, and Roger's eyes flashed in amusement. He dropped to his knees in the middle of the living room, stretching one arm out to the far corner of the room, pleading with his body.

Olivia had changed clothes. Leaving behind her pantsuit from this morning, she looked like a vision. Gregory hadn't seen that dress in years. It was deep red, short on her left hip, but long and flowing down the back of her right leg. She wore the strappy black heels Bette always referred to as 'dangerous'. She advanced on Roger a step at a time, her face imperious and body perfectly in line with her movements.

He was enthralled, forgot completely to stay hidden and nearly tripped down the last few stairs. Gregory had to watch her. She rested her heel on Roger's shoulder for a moment, pushing against him and turning away. Roger jumped to his feet, gliding up against her back. Roger's hands ran up her stomach and brought her arms over her head. Olivia spun out, but Roger pulled her back in, dipping her back as he worshipped the line of cleavage that red dress left bare.

She locked her leg behind Roger's, letting him do a partial lift as she spun out of reach again. Roger advanced and she retreated. She advanced and Roger spun her out and away, pulling her back as if he would die without her. Finally, he set her off in a twirling spin that she carried all the way across the floor. Breathless and laughing with tiny drops of sweat in her hair, she came to a stop as Gregory caught her, holding her desperately as he tried to remember the last time she had been that beautiful.

He could feel her heart racing against his chest, and had they been alone, it would have been a far different encounter. Since they were starting to attract a little more attention then they warranted, Gregory released her and shook his head in admiration. "You haven't danced like that-"

"Since I was much younger and in better shape." Olivia finished for him, stretching the muscles of her legs and wincing slightly. "But Caitlin wanted to learn the tango and then Ethan and Alex showed up." She kissed his cheek, still finding her breath again. "Oh darling, it's been such fun."

Alex smiled at him coquettishly and hurried over to give him a one armed hug. "I ran into this little sweetheart at the airport, so I had to come over and say hello to some of my favorite men."

Ethan blushed good-naturedly. "Apparently Alex and dad go way back."

"Everyone remembers Alex Mitchum." Roger corrected as he turned down the stereo. "It was just fantastic timing to run into her when we did."

"Well, I will expect you to stay for dinner." Gregory offered with pleasure at seeing his old friend again. "I want to hear all about Namibia."

"If someone else is cooking, I'm all yours." Alex teased happily as Roger threw an arm around her shoulders. "I've had enough of my own cooking to last me a lifetime."

"Rose is fantastic." Sean explained as he shared a quiet smile with his mother. "She even has chocolate mousse for us tonight."

"Your favorite, isn't it Catey?" Alex asked brightly.

Caitlin, who had been oddly quiet, had retreated to the front door. "I'm sorry I'm going to miss it."

Gregory left Olivia's side to give his daughter a hug. "Where are you off to? I've barely seen you since I got home."

Shrugging apologetically, Caitlin reached for her purse in the closet. "Sorry daddy, I've a meeting for my summer art class. I'll be seeing you all day tomorrow."

Gregory remembered her mentioning the art class before and let her go. "Have fun." Sean and Olivia came over to wish Caitlin goodbye and Alex pulled Gregory aside.

Hitting him on the side of his head, she put her hands on her hips and smirked. "Looks like you finally got some sense into you and started being good to your wife again. I haven't seen Olivia this happy since the kids were tiny. Whatever you're doing differently, keep it up."

She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him down to hug him tightly. "It's great to see you."

Ethan came over, hand extended politely. "You'll forgive me if I don't hug you. I'm a little sweaty." He gave Gregory a Baxter wink and they shook hands. "Gorgeous flat you've got here. Wife and daughter aren't too bad looking either."

He drew a raised eyebrow from Gregory and a hearty laugh from his father. "Sorry Richards, he gets too much like me for his own good sometimes."

"Obviously" Gregory replied dryly. Even he couldn't keep a smile off his face. Reaching his hand for Olivia's he followed the group into the dining room.

"I hope you aren't entirely danced out." He whispered in her ear as he teased the bare skin of her leg. "I can think of a few moves I'd like to put you through."

Olivia turned around and hid her blushing in his chest, giggling. "Later darling." She promised again as she kissed his cheek. "Let's just eat first.

He found the zipper of his dress and toyed with it wickedly for a moment before heading into the dining room. "All right."

Olivia followed a step behind her husband, feeling her heart racing again. "You aren't even playing fair." She whispered as he pulled out her chair and rested his hands on her bare shoulders just long enough to make them tingle.

"Do I ever?" He asked with eyes twinkling. Rose started passing the food around the table, and Olivia got even by dropping a roll in his lap while his hands were full. Coyly, she retrieved it from his legs with a sadistic twist to her smile.

"No, you don't." She whispered back. 'But you will be punished accordingly." Olivia had to elbow him as he moved on her knee. "Severely punished" she amended as the dish of pasta came around the table, casting steam everywhere as Alex moved to turn down the chandelier.

"Just what are you too whispering about over there?" She asked with sparkling eyes.

Sean looked at his parents, doing his best impression of his father's favorite severe expression. "Something entirely inappropriate for dinner, I'm sure. Perhaps we should send them to eat in the kitchen-"

Roger whispered something Alex, who erupted into a fit of giggles. "You're right Rog, sending them away would just reward them sooner. Everyone, take as long to eat as you possibly can. Our hosts need to learn some restraint."


	20. Gifts

Gregory found her sitting on the last step before the landing on the staircase, holding the white box and its' neat silver bow in her lap. "I see you found one of your presents." He leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms thoughtfully. "Well, open it sweetheart."

Olivia undid the bow, reaching out to drape the silver ribbon around his neck. "You didn't have to do this. I don't need anything."

"You don't need anything yet." He corrected. "It's my job to anticipate your needs and I like to take pride in my work."

"That's certainly true, you have always been especially dedicated to your work." Olivia remarked sardonically as she lifted the cover of the box and dug through the tissue paper. "This is beautiful." It was a suit, cut of a deep purple silk that was nearly black. Sighing in appreciation, she held the jacket up to her shoulders. "Where did you find it?"

Chuckling as he watched her face light up, Gregory moved to take the box from her as she lifted her present out. "I had it shipped from France before we left. I wanted it to get here by Monday."

Using the ribbon around his neck to pull his face in close, Olivia coyly kissed his cheek. "What's happening on Monday that I'd need a suit for?"

Gregory raised his eyebrows and shrugged, feigning innocence as his eyes twinkled. "You'll just have to go upstairs to find out." Taking her hand, he threw her new suit over his shoulder and started up towards the bedroom.

Olivia giggled as he ran his fingers up the back of her spine. "What else could you be hiding upstairs?"

"You'll just have to see, won't you?" Gregory opened the door to the bedroom and followed her in. "The one on your pillow is for last. You have to find the other two first."

"Find them?" Toying with the collar of his shirt, Olivia wondered if she could cajole any more hints out of him. "I hope you didn't hide them too well." Her hand ran up into his hair. "I had plans for you."

He kissed her forehead and broke away to hang up her new suit in the closet. "You can find them all without leaving the bedroom. If you want any more hints, you'll have to earn them." Gregory's left hand ran up the flowing hem of her dress.

She spun away, pulling the dress from his hand, and started looking around the bedroom. As he took an unnaturally long time in the closet, Olivia realized he was hiding something. "It's really unfair of you to interfere and then expect me to work for my hints. It seems like a conflict of interest to me."

He put up his hands, amused by her stab into his subject matter. "Conflict of interest? Very observant of you Liv. I'll sit on the bed. Would you like to search it first?"

Olivia ignored him as she stole the next box from the bottom of the closet. "If you're bringing it up, then I don't need to." She set the box down on the end of the bed, unable to keep from wondering what the gold-wrapped present on her pillow was even as she took the ribbon off the next one. "This one's heavy."

Untucking his shirt, he rested his head on his elbow and watched as the elegant leather briefcase appeared from more of the tissue paper. "It's all in the craftsmanship Liv. An excellent briefcase has a little weight to it."

She hugged it to her for a moment, trying the brass clasps. It was beautiful, classic without being overstated. "It's lovely darling, but I'm afraid I don't understand why I need a briefcase, excellent or otherwise."

Gregory found the puzzled expression on her face too pleasing to ruin it for her. "You could try and earn a hint."

"I'm not giving you the statisfaction." Trying to sound irritated, Olivia turned away from him and continued searching their bedroom.

He found watching her almost as enjoyable as holding the mystery of his gifts over her head. This little red dress would have to come out more often in the future. It made a beautiful curve from the middle of her back downwards and floated sensuously behind her as she wandered around the room.

With a delighted cry she found the last present in the bathroom. Gregory set the briefcase aside while he waited for her to sit down next to him on the bed. "See, it wasn't that difficult."

"So this one explains the mystery?"

"It might." Gregory replied vaguely, smiling patiently as she ripped the ribbon off.

Beneath the paper this time was a brass nameplate identical to the one on his desk at work, but with her name engraved on it instead. She held it in front of her, entirely confused. "I don't understand."

"I've been having an affair." He started softly as he traced the letters of her name on the plate in front of him. She dropped it instantly, her hands going to her chest in surprise. Olivia felt immediately sick. Gregory's heart melted when he saw the color drain from her face. "With my work sweetheart." The explaination made her heart start again.

"With my work." He repeated as he calmed her with a hand on her cheek. "I've been letting it come between us for years. I've given it so much of my attention, I might even have been around more often if I was with another woman."

Agreeing as she leaned into his touch, Olivia picked up the nameplate again. Gregory stroked her cheekbone with his finger, wondering how many of the fine lines around her eyes were his fault. How many late nights had been too many?

"This-" He took the brass and shined it with the corner of his shirt. "Is my way of finally defeating the 'other woman'." His smiled, but his eyes seemed closer to crying. "I thought I'd introduce her to the woman who really matters." Gregory rolled over, taking a folded piece of paper from the drawer in the bedside table. "Public relations director Olivia Richards."

"After you sign, you'll be twenty feet away from my office."

Speechless, she took the contract and looked it over. It was exactly what he said. He had her named public relations director for the new hospital project and every board member of Liberty, Alex Mitchum, Roger Baxter, Ben Evans and Gregory Richards, had already signed her confirmation. "What were you thinking?" Olivia finally asked, shock etched in her face.

"That you're a beautiful, intelligent, well-spoken woman who doesn't have enough of a challenge in her life." He played with the thin strap of her dress, teasing it off her shoulder. "Someone I trust. Someone the stockholders can trust."

The heat of his hands raced up to her face, coloring her neck pink. Olivia searched his eyes, trying to find his motivation but finding only his passion, smoldering behind the earnest brown of his eyes. "This is what you want." She decided as his burning fingers traced her collarbone. "You really want me to come work for you."

"I want to give you back every hour you lost when I was sitting in my office." His voice was hushed as Gregory admitted his feelings. "I owe you so much more." Tapping the contract, he found a pen in the drawer and folded it into her fingers. "But this is a start."

Olivia looked at him and saw the truth in his eyes. Without any more thought, she signed her name neatly at the bottom of the contract. Gregory traded it for the box brightly wrapped in gold foil. "You've earned your way up to this one."

Slitting the tape on the bottom carefully with her fingernail, she unfolded it a flap at a time. Gregory wished she would tear the foil, impatient to see her face when she saw it for the first time. Sensing his hurry, she took her time. The tip of her tongue darted from between her lips, moistening them. Watching her slow, deliberate motions was maddening. Gregory had wanted to make love to her since he had witnessed her dancing. Smoothing out the wrinkles in the foil, Olivia started to fold it into a neat square before he snatched it away from her and shredded it into little pieces all over the bed.

"Just open the box."

Olivia conceded as he slipped the other strap of her dress over the curve of her shoulder, letting it fall down her arm. The hinge of the black velvet jewelry box creaked as it opened. The light from the ceiling fell on the dazzling array of stones and scattered into a hundred points. Glimmering on her face and the wall behind her in flashes of blue.

"Darling-" Olivia gasped as he removed it from the box and more of the light hit it. "It's gorgeous, really gorgeous." A circle of sapphires, flanked by diamonds, with a centerpiece of a stone as blue as the open ocean. Gregory hung it reverently around her neck, letting it settle into the bare curves of her chest above that damn red dress.

"It hardly does you justice." He whispered as he pulled her up from the bed. "But, I'm afraid it'll have to do."

Wrapping her left hand around his neck, they danced together to the silent music in their room. "You're spoiling me."

"Shhh…" Gregory twirled her around, catching her back into his arms, holding her close as he was mesmerized by her beauty. "If you don't say anything, I might keep it up."

Olivia leaned up to kiss him, loosing herself in her hunger for his mouth. When they finally parted lips, he moved aside the center stone to kiss her chest.

"There isn'tany music darling" She protested as he spun her around again.

"We've never needed music." Gregory insisted as he dipped her back nearly to the level of the bed. "And I've been waiting to get you out of this dress all afternoon."


	21. The Ball

The flashbulbs, exploding around her like a thousand fireworks was something Olivia had never gotten over. It was like being trapped in a jar full of angry fireflies. Gregory liked it. Each reporter was there to see him. Every flash of light was a nod of admiration. He reached over to squeeze her hand as the limo pulled up in front of the Deschanel Ballroom, the great hall of Sunset Beach and the only structure in town large enough to hold their charity crowd this year.

Gregory reached over to kiss her before lowering her mask to her face. "Wouldn't do for the camera's not to see it." The masks had been Ben Evan's idea. He always was too much of a romantic, but Olivia and Caitlin both loved the idea. "You look beautiful sweetheart."

Her mask was the deep blue of both her dress and the sapphires gleaming around her throat. It swept up from her eyes in delicate lines of diamonds that trailed off into her hair. Thirty loose stones had been glued there that afternoon. The effect was a crown of stars that settled into the dark curls of her hair.

"In fact beautiful doesn't even do you justice." Gregory's mask was far simpler. Black around his eyes and reaching upwards in a crown of silver leaves. Oberon and Titania, king and queen of the fairies. Ben had wisely broached the idea with Olivia present, knowing she'd be more likely to agree. Explaining that as the only married members of the board, it had to be them.

Caitlin watched as her parents made eyes at each other through their masks. The occasional sweetness, she understood. At times they seemed to forget their hatred of each other, but this was approaching full scale reconciliation. When her father had told her about the necklace, she thought it was just another extravagant gift her mother wouldn't appreciate. Yet another disappointment for her father, but this time felt different. Something had changed in the way her father took her mother's hand.

"They look really happy tonight, don't they?" Sean pointed out as Gregory led Olivia out into the reporters. "Mom looks great. Dad's smile seems real. Maybe you're right after all." Sean and Tiffany climbed out of the other side of the car.

Caitlin waited for a moment and followed them in. She walked through the gauntlet alone, the reporter's distracted by a Congresswoman from the fifth district.

Liberty had outdone itself this year. Vines too green to be fake and too large to be real ran up the walls and crept out into the crystal chandelier. Even the floor was green, silk flowers scattered around the dance floor to be kicked aside when the dancing started in earnest. Caitlin's place was at the fourth table, after the pillars of the community. Politicians draped with jewels or glittering wives. It was ironic how everyone had to outdo each other in the name of charitable giving.

She pulled out her chair and sat down, taking the champagne flute the masked waiter set in front of her. Glancing curiously up to the head table, she watched as the champagne trays passed in front of the board members.

Alex Mitchum perched on the table next to her parents. Taking the glass and laughing as she tried to figure out how to drink around her mask. Alex's mask was crimson with gold highlights, accentuating the strawberry blonde of her hair and the bright red of her dress.

For the first time in as long as Caitlin could remember, her mother let the alcohol pass her by. Gregory waved it by as well. Ben Evans, whose mask had a samurai look to it, took two glasses, one for him and the other for his date. His date was a mystery. Behind her geisha mask, Caitlin couldn't tell who it was. It didn't matter; Bette's gossip column would have all the details tomorrow. She swirled the champagne, listening to the bubbles pop against the sides of the glass.

Sean and pulled out Tiffany's chair and they settled in, laughing and drinking punch from the beautiful crystal goblets. They were really too nice for punch, but she wasn't sure she was ready for Sean to start drinking. Maybe her mother's weakness was genetic, and he wouldn't be able to fight it either. But somehow, Olivia had passed up on the champagne.

Curious, Caitlin excused herself from the table and made her way through the crowd and up the stairs to the head table. The orchestra had finished tuning and started in on a mysterious melody that added to the surrealism of the part. Dr. Baxter's arrival was causing a bit of a scene at the front of the ballroom, and Alex was the only one to notice her coming up the stairs.

"Well good evening Caitlin." Alex took her arms and gave her a half-hug. "You look lovely in that color. Very grown-up."

"Thanks Alex." She took the empty chair next to Alex and watched her parents out of the corner of her eye. "Where's your date?"

Reaching for the bunch of grapes on the silver trays on the table, Alex smiled impishly and waved her hand towards the laughing crowd of people near the door. "Rog's down there. Causing trouble as always."

"At least you know you aren't in for a dull evening." Caitlin sighed softly.

Alex popped a grape into her mouth and shook her head. "I wouldn't pout too much if I were you. You have your youth, and you certainly inherited more then your share of the attractive genes from both of your parents" Fingering a blonde curl, she teased the girl with an easy grin. "Though I never did figure out where you got these golden locks from. Certainly not your mother."

"Mom and I never did have much in common." Caitlin's eyes flashed angrily for a moment, obvious even through her glittering lavender mask.

Alex caught another glass of champagne for Caitlin and decided to press the issue. "Why would you say that?"

Caitlin shrugged off the question. "We don't look at all alike. We've never been interested in the same things. I guess you could say we don't see eye to eye on anything."

Though she tried to look comfortable, years of experience told Alex that there was something going on behind that innocent smile. "How is she doing?"

"Olivia?" Alex looked over her shoulder, watching Gregory and Olivia talking cheerfully with Ben and his date. "She's wonderful dear; your daddy really outdid himself on that necklace."

"But she's not drinking anything." Caitlin pressed further and was rewarded as Alex burst into a smile.

"Gregory's not drinking either." Alex pointed out with a wink and a raised eyebrow. "I think it's just the sweetest thing, don't you?"

"Yeah." Caitlin lied, fishing for more information. "Very romantic."

"I suppose it's not as adorable when it's your parents." Alex admitted as she reached for a strawberry from the fruit plate. "But, I'll embarrass you and tell you I think it's a wonderful thing that your parents are doing. Starting over at their ages might seem irrational, but you know you're only as old as you think you are."

"Starting over?" Caitlin asked again. Remembering her conversation with Cole in the study left an unpleasant taste in the back of her mouth. Cole had to have been mistaken. Her parents wouldn't do that; Gregory would be better off divorced then tied to her mother with another child. Provided she could even carry one to term without falling into the trap of alcohol.

"Having a baby." Alex replied firmly, driving the nails into Caitlin's heart. "You know, when a man and a woman love each other too much, they forget about their good senses and let biology take over so they can live forever."

Caitlin's mask hid the pain in her eyes, but did nothing for the sudden tightness in her jaw. Alex's chance to ask about it was lost when Roger descended on his date. Wrapping his arms around her shoulders, he kissed her cheek and nearly pulled her off the table in his enthusiasm. "Good evening love. Sorry I was late, it took forever to get these bloody things glued to my skull."

Roger was certainly a sight. In addition to a simple wooden mask, he had carved antlers peeking out of his curly gray hair. Someone had done a good job on them too; they looked entirely plausible as natural growths of his skull. Instead of the neat black suits worn by every other man at the party, he wore tan suede pants, a multi-colored silk shirt and a short brilliant purple velvet cape.

He leaned down to kiss Alex's other cheek, leaving a trace of dark lipstick. She wiped it off on her napkin and slipped comfortably into the arm he put around her waist. "Is certainly nice to let the horns out one day of the year. Filing them down does get terribly tiresome."

"You look lovely Alex. Like a burst of sunlight, and you Caitlin, are a vision for these poor old eyes. Sometimes I think Robin Goodfellow's died and gone to heaven." Roger moved towards Caitlin but she dodged away, not wanting a lipstick mark on her own cheek.

"You're wearing lipstick." She exclaimed as Roger started fidgeting with the ribbons on Alex's mask.

"Figured I could get away with it tonight." He tilted his head, enjoying the shadow his horns made against the table with the candlelight behind him. "Always been curious to see what you women are so on about."

"And?" Alex wondered as he stole her glass of champagne. "What's the verdict?"

"Tastes funny." Roger admitted as he took a long sip. "And I keep getting it on things."

"I don't know whether to be sympathetic for your plight, or vindicated that you finally have a glimmer of understanding into the hearts of women." Alex took him firmly by the arm and steered him towards the other board members. "Gregory's going to owe me another hundred when he sees you. Didn't believe me that you'd go for the entire effect."

Roger and Alex headed for the other Liberty board members, but Caitlin hung back, wanting to escape. "Aren't you coming with us Catie?" Roger asked thoughtfully as he realized she wasn't moving.

"Oh no, I thought I'd go find-" Cole had promised to be here. He would understand how horrible it was that he had been right about her parents. "Ethan." She finished with a smile. "Maybe we can fit in a few more dance lessons before the party gets underway."

"He might feel better if you let him lead from time to time." Alex reminded her as Caitlin walked away with a wave. "All ambitions and control. Wants romance but doesn't even know what she's looking for. Really Rog, sometimes she's just too much like Gregory for her own good."

"Maybe someday she'll find someone to mellow her out a little." Roger offered sagely. "Gods only know what Gregory would be like now without our dear Olivia to calm him down."

Alex pulled his face down to hers, digging her fingers into his jacket. "You know that's why we never worked out don't you?"

"Darling, you and I never worked out because we were both married and then by the time we learned and bothered to get divorced, we were too afraid to get into anything like that again." Roger massaged his fingers into her spine, feeling the satin of her dress slip beneath his fingers. "This is a really lovely dress. Very smooth."

Alex giggled but leaned into his embrace. "Gregory and I."

"Ahh." Roger realized thoughtfully. "You were the last fling off his bachelorhood, weren't you sunshine?" He caressed her neck, finding the bones of every vertebrae as he felt his way up to her hairline. Catlike, Alex curled into his touch appreciatively. "Come on, I'll take you out on the balcony and you can tell me all about it. Your bet will still be there."

Alex followed him up the stairs and out onto the second floor balcony. Far below, the ocean crashed up on the rocks that made the foundation for the largest building in Sunset Beach. The moon was a crescent of yellow, glistening forlornly above the waves. Roger balanced himself on the stone railing, locking his feet into the bars. He resembled a pagan god when the moonlight caught his antlers.

Alex leaned on the stone next to him, watching the water spray up from the cliffs below. "Thanks for volunteering to listen to me. I know I can be brutally honest with you."

"Confidentiality agreements." He pointed out lightly. Smiling benevolently, he lowered his hands to the railing as he waited. "I've always been a good listener. It's why my dear old mum thought I was a bit batty and wanted to be a girl."

Turning around, she leaned into his shoulder. "You would have made a lovely girl."

"I always thought so." Roger started braiding the ribbons on the left side of her mask. "So, what about Gregory?"

"Oh Roger," she started with a heavy sigh. "I still have feelings for him. Not the kind I want to do anything about but the kind I'm having trouble ignoring."

"He's gone sunshine." He explained softly as he pulled her in front of him to rub her shoulders. "Entirely gone. Not that I blame you at all. His passion, the force of his personality, all of it is genuinely appealing about him. Gregory's a rottweiler, when he likes you, he'd kill for you. If he doesn't like you, he'll rip your face off."

Laughing again, Alex tilted back her head and snuggled into the warmth of his body. "Funny analogy. Especially consider how much he hates dogs."

"Competition. He needs to be alpha male, all of the time. Pack leader." Running his hands up and down her arms kept Alex warm. Roger rested his chin on her head. "That's why we continue to get along. I'm a clown. A follower."

"Entirely nonthreatening." Alex agreed gently as she patted his hands. "And I know it would never work between us. We're too alike. It would be fun for awhile, but then we'd implode. I'm sure you remember, we were there after that summer. Ready to kill each other."

Sighing again, she wandered into old memories. "But no one else was ever that fun."

Roger turned her around and lifted up her mask for a moment. "You can still have fun, sunshine. We can get a lot of fun into whatever time you have left."

"I don't want that much." She admitted softly as she pulled her mask back down over tearful eyes. "Every day it's a little bit harder to get out of bed and give myself the morphine and the steroids. Each time I wonder if I should just pull back the plunger all the way on the little needles and just end it."

Being a gentleman, Roger took her hand and kissed it. "When you're ready, I'll be there. Just like we talked about."

"I know," She toyed with his horns as she found her smile again. "And you're a sweet man for keeping my secret so well."

"Secrets all around lately." He gave her another hug and started in from the chill night air. "When you get a chance, talk to Livie alone. She's going to need your help with her own little secret."

Gregory watched Roger and Alex returned from the balcony arm-in-arm. With all the familiar faces around it was almost like old times again. He caught the waiter with a tap on the shoulder and retrieved the two glasses of sparkling water. Returning to his conversation, he handed one to Olivia with a smile. Annie had started to give them a hard time for passing up the champagne, but she was easy enough to quiet.

"It's going to be a long night Annie and I'm afraid I'm just not as young as I used to be." Gregory had explained easily to Annie's geisha mask. "Besides, there's more for you that way."

Ben shook his head, his laughter out of place with his samurai appearance. "You'd think she'd have picked up a little more sophistication while she was in Europe."

"And you are a millionaire heiress now." Without even looking at Annie, Gregory ran a grape around the edges of Olivia's lips before letting her eat it. "You have a reputation to live up to Miss Douglas."

Ben watched Gregory's flirting and tried to figure out where the likeable side of Gregory had been hiding in recent years. "Where is Roger? Annie needs to thank him again for buying her out of that rather sticky situation."

"Over by the food with Alex." Gregory pointed out with his glass. "If you're headed over there, take this to Alex for me." Handing Olivia his glass, he took a hundred dollar bill out of his wallet and passed it to Ben. "I foolishly bet Roger wouldn't wear the horns in public."

"I tried to warn you." Olivia piped up as Ben and Annie left them. "Roger's never been one to pass up a chance to do something out of the ordinary. He looks good in them though."

"Everyone looks wonderful." Gregory took her hand and led her out towards the dance floor. "Although, no one else here compares to you. This-" He ran his hand over the line of diamonds. "Adds just the right air of mystery. I'm going to have to keep it around for awhile. Find some use for it."

Olivia put her hand on his shoulder as he chose their steps. "Strangers in the night darling?"

"There's something intriguing about only seeing part of your face." He ran a lazy finger along her chin, smirking. "Makes me appreciate what I have all the more."

"Aren't you afraid someone will see you and your reputation as an ice cold attorney will be ruined?" Olivia wondered as she wrapped her arm around the back of his neck.

"I don't see why being a good husband is bad for my reputation." He retorted gently. "Being a bad one never seemed to make a difference."

Olivia started to protest, almost losing her step in the waltz. "You-"

Gregory hushed her with a finger over her mouth. "I was a terrible husband. Either gone to work or locked up in my own mind. You deserve more then that."

Unable to reply, she kissed his fingers.

Gregory cupped her chin for a moment and smiled, looking reverent in his dark mask. "I've tried to blame you for what happened between us and tried to tell myself it's all been your fault." Titling his head so he wouldn't bump their masks together, he kissed her, feeling rather proud. She was his and he wasn't embarrassed to demonstrate that in the middle of a floor full of people.

He kept her in close, only swaying slightly to the music as he rested his head on her shoulder. "But this is a partnership, isn't it? Even the blame has to be shared."

When the music ended, Gregory took the pause before the next song just to hold her for a moment. "All of that is behind us now. I promise you that Liv."

Caressing the line of his nose through his mask, Olivia was grateful her eyes were hidden in hers. It really wouldn't be proper to burst into tears in the middle of Sunset Beach's finest. Pulling Gregory out of the crowd, they retreated to the head table.

He pulled out her chair and settled her into it with another glass of sparkling water. "I'm going to go see about dinner. I'll bring your plate back to you."

"Thank you darling." Taking advantage of her moment alone, Olivia turned away from the party long enough to wipe the tears away from under her mask.

Alex caught her shoulder and handed her an extra napkin. "Here you are. What did Gregory do now?"

Olivia replaced her mask and smiled even though she still felt the tears stinging her eyes. "Oh Alex. He's been so sweet lately. It's like it was when we were young and foolish. I just can't imagine how much it's going to hurt when it ends."

Alex took Gregory's chair and wrapped her arms around her friend. "Oh honey. It's not going to end. Not between you two." Lifting Olivia's mask off again, Alex carefully got the tears away from her eyes with the cloth napkin. "Never between you two."

"Take it from someone who was in a marriage that ended in divorce. There are signs that lead up to it. Moments where you wonder why you got together at all-" Alex hugged her again, brightly trying to share her optimism. "But you don't have that do you?"

"No." Olivia managed weakly, swallowing her tears and forcing herself to smile. "I just don't want to let him down."

Alex tapped her fingers on the table thoughtfully. "How could you disappoint him?"

Looking around, Olivia made sure Gregory was still out of earshot at the catering table. "I'm not sure if I can get pregnant."

Scooting her chair closer, Alex leaned in conspiratorially with her hands on Olivia's knees. "That's all? I bet Roger has tons of magic potions he could prescribe you. Women older then you have children all the time and if there's anything I can do, you just ask. You know I'd do anything for you two."

Satisfied that Gregory was still far enough away, Olivia confessed, feeling rather childish. "Roger gave me something. It's supposed to help. I was going take it next weekend, when Gregory's away in England."

"Isn't that counterproductive if Gregory's away?" Olivia blushed faintly as Alex hit her shoulder playfully. "After all, if I remember my early biology lessons it takes two to make a baby."

"Roger said-" She took a drink to clear her throat. "I might already be pregnant. He wants me to take this drug to encourage my body to implant the baby. It's just; it's a series of shots."

Alex squeezed her shoulder, smiling broadly. "That's easy. Needles just look scary when you have to do them yourself. I'll help you."

Olivia watched Gregory's approach with the plates in his hands, quickly lowering her mask. She squeezed Alex's hand in the affirmative, her eyes deeply grateful. She changed the subject to something safe for Gregory's ears. "Ben brought in this orchestra all the way from San Francisco. Said he saw them years ago, and couldn't wait for an excuse to bring them down here."

"Here you are." Gregory announced as he set the plates down in front of both women. "I choose different things for both of us so you could try everything. If you had let me know you were sitting in my chair I would have gotten you something too Alex."

Alex vacated his chair, staying long enough to squeeze Olivia's hand again in comfort. "I think I can manage to find my own food. Don't let him be too nice to you. That mask is a little too nice to ruin it."

Gregory took the hint, wrapping his arm around her waist. "You all right?"

Olivia nodded as she spread her napkin out over her lap. "I'm fine. Really. I'm just a little emotional lately."

"It's all right." Reassuring her as he made his hand comfortable on her hip. "As long as you're happy."

"Ridiculously so lately darling." Olivia fidgeted with her silverware, not really sure what to start with on her plate. "I- it's just- I can't..." Taking a deep breath, she set down her fork and looked at him, finding his eyes in the black holes in his mask. "I'm afraid it's going to end."

"It's not going to end." Gregory gently leaned his forehead into hers, resting their masks together. "I promise you Olivia. Everything's going to be all right. I wouldn't, I couldn't leave you." He kissed her, taking his time with her lips. Enough time that he got a few whistles of approval and a scattering of applause. Olivia's blush ran pink up to her mask and disappeared.

"Now, can we eat?"

Olivia reached down to the hand he still had on her waist and took it. Cherishing the warmth of his fingers. "All right. But I want you to turn your plate so I can get your lobster."

Gregory raised one eyebrow, turning his plate towards her slowly. "What do I get?"

Coyly sliding his hand up the smooth fabric of her dress, she stopped it just beneath her breast, still out of sight through the table. "I'm willing to open negotiations for after the party."

Gregory pressed his advantage, trusting the centerpiece to hide his hand from the majority of the crowd. "Unless you want to strategically retreat somewhere more out of the way."

Olivia took his lobster and ate it, licking traces of butter from her lips. "Don't you think we'd be missed?"

"We could be discreet." He replied suggestively.

Olivia moved his hand to the complicated closures on the back of her dress. "Not in the amount of time it would take me to get out and back into this." Leaning over to whisper in his ear, she stole another morsel from his plate. "I'll have to make it up to you, later."


	22. The Mahadevi's River

The orchestra was packing up. Instruments were tucked lovingly away into their cases. After midnight, all masks were off. Ben Evan's suit jacket was long ago thrown over the back of his chair. Annie's shoes were in a neat heap on the table next to her mask. Alex's shoes were forsaken too. Roger picked her up and carried her to the limosine, her shoes dangling from his free hand. Caitlin, Sean and Tiffany escaped when Bette left.

Gregory finished with the caterers, thanking them again and passing them the check for their services. He moved on to the orchestra, shaking hands with their conductor and laughing. Ben and Annie passed Olivia in the doorway, Ben gave her a kiss on the cheek.

Ben collected his posessions and those of his date, grinning. "Over a million. Up from last year. Well done indeed fairy queen." Ben caught Annie's arm, she seemed a little more tipsy then he did.

"Goodnight." Annie wished cheerfully, as she swayed a little. "Excellent party Olivia, I had a wonderful time…" Ben gave Olivia a knowing smile and followed Annie's winding way out of the ballroom.

"Thank Gregory for me." He called over his shoulder.

Standing alone in the middle of the huge ballroom, Olivia called goodnight to his back. "I will, take care you two." She spun around slowly, taking in the decorations and sealng them in her memory. It was a magical night, she thought, swinging her mask from its ribbons on lazy fingers. Gregory caught her arm, reminding her with his that their evening wasn't quite over.

Olivia snaked her arm around his elbow, leading him towards their car and home. "Ben's thrilled, we've raised over a million this year."

Gregory whistled softly, taking a parting glance at the beautiful room. "Everything was just about perfect, wouldn't you say?" Stumbling a bit as she took the first step, Gregory helped her recover her balance. "You all right?"

Taking a firmer grip on his arm, Olivia nodded. Wincing as her shoes struck the marble but laughing softly to assuage his concern. "My feet hurt."

He caressed her arm, showing his sympathy without a word as Tim came around to open the door. Gregory waited for Olivia to get into the car, he cast a last look over the building. The lights were off, the caterers were leaving, his work was done. "Home then, thank you Tim."

"Of course." Tim responded with a half-smile as he closed the door. It would be something to have a chauffer drive you and your beautiful wife home from the biggest social event of the year. Maybe someday.

"Give me your feet." Gregory requested firmly as the car started moving. "Why didn't you take your shoes off?"

Sighing in false exasperation, she lifted her feet up to his lap, bunching her dress around her knees. "I didn't want to ruin the hem of the dress."

"It's just a dress Liv." He undid the tiny buckles of the straps of her shoes with patient fingers. "It could be cleaned."

She bit her lip as he eased off her shoe, keeping her sigh in the back of her throat as he removed the other one. Just having the shoes off was lovely enough, but Gregory found the pressure point in the center of of the ball of her foot and pushed into the soreness.

Olivia's breath caught in her throat for a moment, and he lowered the pressure until she relaxed. Gregory switched feet, working the stored tension free from the small bones of her right foot. "Did you have a good time?"

"It was beautiful." Her instantaneous response made him smile with quiet pride. "The decorations, the orchestra- everything was really beautiful, and everyone I talked to had a wonderful time. I'm very proud of you darling. Even Sean was impressed."

Gregory ran his thumb firmly up the arch of her foot, rubbing into the curve. "We've been doing well lately. Found some middle ground." He switched feet again, watching her toes wriggle. "Honesty goes a long way with him."

"He's a good boy." Olivia insisted, closing her eyes as both of his hands ran up her ankle, teasing their way beneath the hem of her dress. "If you let him in, I think you could really have a chance at something."

Gregory pulled one hand down the muscle of her calf, letting the other return back to her left foot. "It's not easy to let someone in."

"Especially for you, darling, I know." Moistening her lips with her tongue, Olivia opened her eyes again, watching the emotion play behind his eyes. "But I think it's worth trying. It would mean a lot." The car pulled into the driveway and came to a stop. "To both of us." She added as Tim came around to the door.

Gregory took her shoes, dangling them by the straps from his hand as he exited on the other side. Olivia held her dress high, keeping it from the walk up to the door. He entered the security code with one hand, not even needing to look at the keypad. The living room was entirely dark, quiet and serene. Gregory dropped her shoes by the hall closet. Rose would put them away.

They didn't need to see to find the staircase. They both knew where each step was. Olivia's dress swished against the wall, whispering to the house in a secret conversation. The second to last step creaked a goodnight as they passed the top of the stairs. They reached for the doorknob in unison, chuckling as their hands met in the darkness.

"After you." Gregory whispered, resting his hand on the small of her back as he reached for the lights just inside the door.

The bed was tempting, waiting for them with many promises. Gregory tossed his suitcoat over it, undoing his cufflinks and dropping them into the box on his table. Olivia should have started on the jewels in her hair, but she couldn't stop watching him. She let her toes slip into the carpet. Even with her shoes off, her feet still ached from the hours of standing. Funny how they didn't ever hurt until the party was over.

Gregory's cumberbund and shirt joined his jacket. He undid his belt as he turned back to her. The soft longing on her face was adorable. "I'll be with you in a moment." Taking his clothes to the closet, he disappeared inside for a moment. She was half tempted to follow him, picturing him stepping out of his tuxedo pants was making her cheeks flush.

Tieing his robe loosely around his waist, Gregory reappeared at the closet door. The expression on her was was unmistakable. Amused, he circled her and began the slow work of the buttons on the back of her dress. "Did you have a favorite part?"

Pulling diamonds carefully from her hair, Olivia paused as she searched through her curls. "Honestly?"

"Please." Giving up, he opened the top drawer of the vanity, finding the little hook she kept around for dresses that insisted on being difficult.

She shut the top drawer and pulled it out of the second one with a smirk. "You were my favorite part. It's been a long time since we went to a party together without arguing, one of us storming out or me being too drunk to remember it."

Touched, he brushed the skin of her back above the top of the strapless blue silk with a grateful hand. "Unfortunately, I think you're right about that." Gregory kissed the nape of her neck. "But not anymore."

She dropped her hands from her hair again, trying to keep the tingling feeling from running all over her body. "Not anymore." Olivia echoed, desperately wishing that would be the case.

"No low points at all?" Gregory questioned as he moved down the row of buttons.

"Actually," she closed the little box for the diamonds and started on the bobby pins, loose curls of dark hair cascading down her back as she freed them. "There was this man in the devil's mask. He made me nervous."

A protective note crept into his voice. "Did you get his name?"

"Cole something." Gregory cursed as he tore one of the buttons completely off her dress.

She turned around, startled by the noise. "-He was really interested in my necklace."

Gregory's eyes had gone cold.

"What is it?" Olivia reached for his face, but he caught her hand, calming her as he rubbed her fingers.

"Nothing." He assured quietly, but his eyes were anything but comforting. "What did he say?"

"He asked a lot of questions about my necklace, Caitlin, Sean, you. He was polite enough-" She trailed off, starting to be frightened by the cold in his eyes.

"But?" Gregory pressed further, still without explaination.

"I didn't trust him." Olivia admitting anxiously. "What is it? Gregory-"

"Cole St. John," He explained with the gruffness of deep dislike. "Is the jewel thief who pretended to be Ethan. He's bolder then I expected him to be. I thought he'd skip town as soon as we came home."

Her hands both went protectively to her throat, holding the sparkling jewels to her chest. "Why didn't you warn me?"

Gregory's face softened with guilt. "I meant to. There was just so much going on. I forgot." He cupped her chin, smiling in the way that always melted her heart. "Please forgive me."

Olivia stood on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek before turning her back to him again. "If you didn't ruin my dress when you ripped off the button, all is forgiven."

"I'll ask the cleaners to get you another button." He offered as he finished the line of buttons without incident. "There. Ready to get out?"

Sighing in relief as the dress pulled away from her ribs, Olivia held the dress up with her hands and waited for him to face her. Holding on to his shoulders for support, she let him guide the dress down and off of her body. It collapsed to the floor, empty like a dying flower. Stepping out into his arms, she forgot about the dress for a moment when their eyes met.

Gregory's eyes could still consume a room. Drawing the color and life from everything else and pulling her in. The connection was so intense that her own breath startled her.

He took the dress to the closet, letting her finish teasing the pins out of her hair. Biting her tongue between her teeth, Olivia was so involved in trying to free her hair from the elaborate knot that she didn't even know he was back until his fingers massaged into her scalp.

Moaning under her breath, she leaned back into his chest, dropping her arms and letting him finish the chore. Gregory took his time, enjoying the feel of her hair in his hands. "How many are in here?" He asked finally, setting the most recent on top of the steadily growing pile.

"Half the package." Olivia replied softly. Wishing he'd keep his hands on her foerver.

Gregory ran his fingers through the curls of her hair from the crown of her head down, one last check for stray bobby pins. She curled her fingers around the edge of his robe, tightening her grip as he removed her earrings. "Did I tell you the story of your necklace yet?"

"No" She reopened her eyes, smiling innocently. "I didn't know it had a story."

Gregory kissed the base of her neck at the shoulder, letting his teeth brush against her skin for a split second before he slipped away to steal the candles from the bathroom. Setting them up in a row on the bedside table. "It has a beautiful story. A legend really, it's what drew me to the piece." Blowing out the match, he shut off the light overhead and sat down on the bed, pulling her over and sitting her down with her back to him.

Gregory started down the intricate row of tiny hooks that held her corset in place, falling into his storyteller's voice. "Once, thousands of years ago in India, a great king was known as the Mahadevi, the demon king. His armies were as numerous as the grains of sand in the desert. For that everyone feared him. But he was lonely."

"Why was he lonely?" She asked when he paused the narrative. Gregory hushed her, taking his time with the hooks.

"I'm getting to that part." He assured her as he ran featherlight fingers across the skin of her shoulders.

"Because everyone feared the demon king, no one would even dare look upon his face. He grew angry in his isolation and rode for days through the desert, terrible in his rages. When he stopped to water his horse in the garden of a small kingdom, he found a woman filling her water pitcher. She moved aside for his horse, but when he dropped to the fountain to drink, she told him to wait his turn."

Gregory sighed dramatically, showing the demon king's frustration. "The Mahadevi was tired and thirsty and had no patience for the woman at the fountain. He dropped the cloak from his face, thinking that the very sight of him would frighten her into submission."

"But?" Olivia turned around taking her clothing away from his hands.

"She wasn't afraid. She was a princess in her kingdom, no matter how small, and she did not intened to let him push her around. She told him he was a foolish man and destined to die alone." Gregory turned her back around firmly.

"She sounds wise."

Gregory sighed melodramatically. "Do you want to hear the story or not?"

She patted the hand on her shoulder, putting her other hand over her mouth and promising to stop interrupting. "I'm sorry darling."

"The Mahadevi flew into a rage and galloped away on his horse, out of his mind with her inpudence. How dare she speak to him that way? But as he rode his anger faded. Maybe she was right, he would die alone and unlamented. In the middle of the desert, he turned his horse around. Spurring the animal to great speeds he flew back to the fountain. He waited at that fountain for three days but the princess was nowhere to be seen." Gregory finished the hooks of her corset, continuing his story as he fetched her robe from the door of the closet.

"Finally, nearly convinved he had imagined her in a fit of madness, he asked an old blind man about the princess of this city. The blind man told the Mahadevi her father had locked her away because she had been seen talking to the demon king. Her father was afraid the demon would try to steal her away forever, and he wouldn't let anyone have her."

Gregory released the corset, letting her slip nearly nude into the robe he held out in front of her. "The Mahadevi was furious. He stormed to the gates of the city, swearing an oath that he would tear through the desert like a mighty river to reach his beloved, for he knew now that he loved the princess beyond reason."

"Did he have to fight his way through?" Olivia asked as she lay back on the bed. The necklace gleamed on her chest in the open neck of her white silk robe. The candlelight made each stone take on a life of its own. Glistening like droplets of water caught on her skin.

"He collected his army," Gregory continued earnestly. "Enlisting every man who had ever pledged allegiance to his name. They filled the desert like a great typhoon, raising enough dust to block out the sun. When he surrounded the city he called for his love."

"Gregory-" She interrupted urgently. "He can't call for her. He doesn't even know her name."

Advancing on her, pushing her down to the bed with the warm weight of his body, Gregory's hand rested on the necklace. "Of course he knew her name. It's just been lost to history."

She slipped between the pillows, sliding more of her body beneath his chest and pulling her outside knee up next to his arm. "I apologize." Olivia replied in a whisper as the heat ran up from her belly. "Please continue."

"When her father looked out and was unable to see the desert for the horses surrounding his palace walls, he knew he had been defeated. Without spilling a drop of blood, the Mahadevi rode his mount victorious through the gates of the city. Stopping only when he reached the palace steps. Dropping from his horse, he knelt at the feet of his love. He took the water of his canteen and poured it to the stone at her feet."

"The water struck the stone and formed a circle, then the circle became stones." Tracing the skin just beneath the necklace, he coaxed a moan from her throat. "These stones. Picking them up and placing them around the neck of his love, the Mahadevi told her that the necklace was their river. The waters that connected them no matter where they were in the world."

Olivia reached for the belt of his robe, undoing the knot as she spoke. "What did she say?"

"I don't think she said anything." Gregory whispered huskily as he nibbled the skin of her neck.

Running her cool hands up beneath his robe, Olivia nodded slowly in agreement as she pulled him down. "She didn't have to. She knew they were connected."

Gregory twisted the antique clasp of the necklace and laid it reverently on the stand by the bed. He lowered himself over her, tracing the bare skin where the necklace had been. "Always."

Parting her lips, she invited him down to her as she opened her robe to let him in. As he reached for her hungrily, Olivia leaned up to whisper into his ear. "I think it's a beautiful story." Her breath was moist, hot on his cheek.

Gregory smiled, a bit of his own demons glowing in his eyes. "I think you're beautiful." Her mouth devoured him then, preventing him from saying any more.


	23. Lovers at Sunset

From the Sunset Beach Sentinel, July 2nd 1997

**Lovers at Sunset**  
_Sunset Beach's own prodigal photojournalist takes some time to pay her respects to her home town.  
Queen of the Night - Bette Katzenkazrahi_

Alex Mitchum's been to over one hundred nations. Backpacked alone through the mountains of China, been lost in the jungles of Madagascar and always looked fabulous doing it. She's been internationally recognized and earned her laurels for her work. In fact, the only thing she says she'd do differently if she had a chance to do it all over again would be to drag her son along.

And you all know her son as the heaven-sent Apollo of the lifeguard tower, Casey.

Now she's unpacking her camera for a few weeks and studying her closest landscape. When you go down to the beach, watch for the spritely blonde with the tripod, chances are she's working on her new project.

"Lovers at Sunset" is the working title of Alex's book. (Due out this time next year if you want to mark your calendars) Like her past five compliations, it is a pictorial journey through a world few have really seen. But as a first for our native girl, this one features people.

Not models either, but real people you may know and see everyday. Why you ask, dear reader, why the sudden change of both heart and subject matter?

"Intimacy." Is the short and simple answer. "All my projects have been grand journeys through the unknown. This is a small journey through an even bigger unknown." She tells yours truly, Queen of the Night.

"I wanted to pay homage both to the history of the town and the people closest to me. The people I've loved and those who have touched their lives." She continues, exposing her poet's soul.

"I like to think of photography as a way to freeze this point in time. So everyone I know and the beauty of their lives can live forever, even as a single moment."

So who is she choosing to live forever in the pages of her project? All volunteers. Having finalized it on the seventeen-hour flight home from Africa, she keeps the handwritten list of her desired participants in her purse. What do they say when she asks them?

"Yes. Hopefully." Alex chuckles as she explains she hasn't had the chance to ask many of them yet. "Casey and his new sweetheart agreed right away." This new sweetheart is the most recent addition to Surf Central, Dr. Heather Jensen, marine biologist with the Oceanographic Institute.

"So did Roger, but he'll do anything an attractive woman asks." The junior Baxter boy is in as well. 

"Ethan's very photogenic in that soulful British way. He's been a good subject. We got a lot done in our morning together."

When asked if she has a favorite, her bright blue eyes turn wistful. "Of course I do. I think everyone has that special couple that they know."

But she's not telling who they are. We'll all have to wait for the book.

Not everyone in her list are lovers in the traditional sense. "A lot of my subjects are still looking for the loves in their future. Some are looking to the past. But no matter who they are I'm asking them to share a lot of themselves."

I don't know about you, but this reporter thinks it'll be worth it. You'll find me on page 18.


	24. Choose One

Rose set the paper on the table between the coffee and the croissants. Gregory asked for little at breakfast and adding Olivia to the early mornings hadn't changed his habits. She ate what he did. Olivia was the first one down this morning, humming to herself as she came through the glass doors onto the patio.

"Thank you Rose." She didn't look up as Rose disappeared back inside. Rose had Caitlin, Sean and Ethan's breakfast to make. Roger was up and gone already. He preferred to run in the earliest hours, before the sun was hot overhead.

Olivia sat down and picked up the paper. The front page was still all about the new hospital project. Today they featured an interview with some of the faculty coming in from England, Roger Baxter included. She glossed over his interview, smiling as she pictured him looking academic in his tweed jacket.

The publicity for the project was going splendidly. Revamping the hospital was good for the public and the idea of a new university was enough to spin off a score of articles on scientific interest. As she flipped through the front pages she felt a surge of pride. Olivia recognized articles she had suggested, notes she had passed along, and content with the Sentinel, she turned through to the gossip column.

A few days ago, Bette's article had needed the whole page to show pictures of the ball. Her sapphire necklace had been a sidebar all to itself. Today, the Queen of the Night's section was topped with a smiling picture of Alex. She reached for her coffee, settling back in her chair to read Bette's take on Alex's new project.

Gregory went directly for the croissant, tearing the corner off as he crossed around to read the paper over Olivia's shoulder.

"She sounds sad." Olivia pointed out as her husband leaned down to kiss her cheek. "Not her usual self at all."

Pouring himself a cup of coffee as he took another bite of his croissant, Gregory finished the article before offering his opinion. "Alex has always hated doing shots of people. Maybe she's just challenging herself."

Olivia looked over the article again, the tightness in her eyebrows suggesting she didn't agree. He rubbed her shoulder thoughtfully, admiring her black suit as he sat down across from her.

"I could learn to like the professional Olivia. Especially when you put your hair up." Waiting for her to look up and take it, Gregory held a croissant with butter and raspberry jam out towards her. "It makes you look elegant. Sophisticated."

"In sharp contrast to the real me who lacks both of those traits." Olivia replied dryly, earning a smile from her husband.

She tapped the paper, frowning at Alex's picture. "I still think there's something wrong. She's never been the sentimental type before." Exchanging the croissant for the paper, she refilled her coffee cup. "Maybe you should read it again."

"People change Liv." Gregory watched as she licked jam from the rim of her cup. Smiling as he studied the exposed line of her neck beneath the subtle string of black pearls. "Alex has been gone for years, maybe she's changed more then we realize."

"Meaning what?" Olivia asked with a bite of croissant still in her mouth.

He set down his coffee cup firmly, causing the saucer to clink. "Meaning I know what it's like to look around and suddenly see that you don't like where you are."

She reached across the table and took his hand, squeezing it hard enough to make his fingers ache. "You aren't there anymore."

"So I tell myself." Gregory looked down as his coffee, watching the dark liquid move lazily in his cup. "But it sounds better when you do."

Olivia traced the band of his watch with her fingers. Wondering when he had started to take her opinion over his own and surprised that he had admitted it so freely. "You have changed, darling, believe me."

His silence was his thanks. Gregory hadn't come quite far enough for anything else. Olivia was slowly picking up the crumbs from her plate with one finger when he finally changed the subject.

"We're meeting Alex on the beach tomorrow morning at five for our session."

Olivia groaned as she finished her coffee. "Five is ungodly early."

Gregory held open the door while she put on her shoes. "It's when the light's the best. Just this one morning-"

"I'm doing it for Alex." She agreed as they both took their briefcases from the hallway and headed to thegarage. "And don't you look so smug. You're not going to like it either."

Gregory raised an eyebrow as he unlocked the charcoal Jaguar. "Why aren't I going to like it? I don't hate mornings."

"Tonight, I am going to bed early and I'm going to sleep." She threatened firmly as she climbed into the passenger seat. "No matter what ideas you may have to the contrary."

Turning to her as he opens the garage door, Gregory grinned devilishly. "I haven't the faintest idea what you're talking about sweetheart." The engine purred to life as Gregory pulled out of the garage. "Not the faintest idea."

He shifted into drive when he hit the street. "Though, we could always move the board meeting back until after lunch."

Olivia pretended not to hear him, looking out over the water as the Jaguar glided effortlessly through the quiet morning traffic on the way to the Liberty building.

Gregory walked her to her office. Insisting on a parting kiss that became far more passionate then either of them intended, Olivia's arms wrapping around his neck as he pushed her back into the door.

Roger's overly polite cough from the secretary's desk broke them apart. Olivia took a moment to catch her breath, but Gregory managed to look entirely composed. "Morning."

"Good morning loves. Seems you are both in excellent spirits today." Roger hopped off the desk and insinuated himself between them as he opened the door to Olivia's office. "I need to steal your better half for the next hour or so. I have some architectural designs to go over with her before she meets with Senator Rafferty."

Gregory smiled in goodnatured defeat. "All right. You win this round Baxter."

Olivia ran after him a few paces, catching him to kiss his cheek. "I'll see you at lunch darling."

"I count on it." He replied patiently as he played with a loose strand of her hair before tucking it behind her ear. "Have fun with Roger." Olivia smirked impishly and shut the door to her office before Roger could get in a sly comment. Gregory could hear their muffled laughter as he walked down to his own office.

Emily, his secretary, was already waiting for him. As he collected the morning's paperwork, she explained her mystery of the morning. "You got an envelope first thing this morning. Hand delivered to the receptionist, no note." She pointed to his door, shrugging. "I put it on your desk. It doesn't even have a return address."

"Thank you Emily. I'll deal with it." He set his briefcase down on the floor by his feet. The envelope that had her so puzzled was an unlabled brown manila. '_Gregory Richards_' was written in black block lettering across the front center, but no other markings were present. Curious, he took his silver letter opener to the seal.

Dumping it out on his desk, Gregory found two newspaper clippings and a folded yellow sheet of paper, from a legal pad. Both clippings were from the gossip column on Monday. One was a picture of Olivia on his arm when they arrived at the charity ball. Her smiling face had been circled with red marker. The second was the header from the short piece the Sentinel's fashion department had done on the Mahadevi's River, Olivia's necklace. It too had been circled with the same red marker.

Frowning intensely, he unfolded the yellow piece of paper, careful to only hold it by the edges in case any fingerprint evidence was present.

Written in the same dammed red marker, two words assaulted him, grabbing his heart with icy fingers- 

"**Choose one**."


	25. Investigation

Gregory's first impulse was to crumple the paper up and throw it across the room. Logic made him drop it to the desk and reach for the intercom instead.

"Emily please call Detective Torres for me. Ask him to come by as soon as possible." 

Emily knew better then to ask questions. "Of course Mr. Richards. Right away."

The moment the intercom clicked off, Gregory picked up the first object that he could throw across the room. A glass paperweight. It was heavy enough to provide some release for his anger. He set it back down. He needed his anger where it was. Gregory picked up his phone and pressed the button for his private line. It only took a ring for the party to pick up.

"Stanton." Gregory was curt and to the point. Stanton wasn't a man who stood on ceremony. "I want you to drop what you're doing."

"This takes precedence...Absolutely, over everything else." Gregory stared down at the picture of Olivia. He balled his free hand into a fist, the knuckles on his other hand going white with tension around the phone. "Find everyone who has ever threatened my wife."

"I expect your report in twenty-four hours." Slamming the phone down made his hand sting, but it did nothing to make him feel any better.

He turned away from his desk, looking out over the buildings of downtown, out into the ocean. Gregory shut his feelings down. Pushing aside the sick sense of helplessness that came from knowing Olivia was in danger, he let his analytical skills take what he knew and build it into a theory.

But he couldn't concentrate. Gregory couldn't chase the voice that insisted this time he would fail. Even when she hated him, Olivia had always been there. As dependent on his hatred as she was on his love. In the darkest hour of their marriage he never would have allowed anyone to harm her. He was the one who hurt her. Even that was his right alone.

He didn't realize the paperweight was back in his hand until it was shattering on the wall. 

Detective Ricardo Torres hated being summoned. He hated the casual arrogance with which Gregory Richards treated the police. As if all of the SBPD served at his beck and call. Officer Paula Steven was far more relaxed. She dealt with the receptionist who sent them straight up to the fifth floor.

Tucking his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket, Ricardo sighed heavily. "I thought I'd had enough Gregory Richards for a lifetime."

Paula smiled sympathetically as she tucked her hands into her belt. "I know he was impossible during the murder investigation, but he's still a citizen of Sunset Beach and under our protection."

"He's still impossible." Ricardo corrected. "Because the Douglas case is still open."

She brushed his shoulder, wishing she make things better for him. "You did a good job Ricardo. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Even the Feds couldn't find any more evidence. It was a professional job."

The elevator opened onto the fifth floor, showing the beautiful wood paneling of the walls. The brass lettering on the doors was what bothered him the most. It was just so pretentious.

Dr. Roger Baxter was the first office on the left. "Gregory's old friend." Paula observed quietly. "Mom says he's really a character."

"I didn't know Gregory had any friends." Ricardo whispered dryly. 

Paula gave him a dirty look, shaking her head. "Alex Mitchum. Nice article about her in the paper this morning."

"Ben Evans." Ricardo sneered slightly, he had no love for his brother-in-law. Paula said nothing. She knew the harsh feelings between Ben Ricardo and she knew better then to get involved.

He expected the next door to be Gregory's as the reached the end of the corridor. But the door on the left said Olivia Richards. "I didn't know she was a board member."

Paula smiled. "She's not. Olivia's doing publicity for the hospital project. Bette and Mom had a party for her at the Waffle Shop a couple days ago. They were all pretty excited. Mom thinks we need more women in business in Sunset Beach."

Richards' secretary looked shaken, but she was doing her best to hide it behind a mask of quiet calm. Ricardo could only imagine what it would be like to work for the man, to be subject to his every whim. She had his sympathy.

"Mr. Richards is waiting for you." Emily explained politely, keeping most of her unease out of her voice. "Thank you for coming so quickly."

"We'll let ourselves in." Ricardo opened the door and headed into the lion's den. His boots crunched on something in the carpet. Glass by the sound of it. "Break something?" 

Gregory didn't turn back from the window. "Yes. Better keep your shoes on detective."

"I'm sure we won't be staying long enough to get comfortable." Ricardo muttered under his breath. Paula stopped short of elbowing him as Gregory turned to face them.

His eyes looked like they could be used to carve marble. Gregory crossed his arms over his chest, balancing his chin on one closed fist as he nodded to the desk. "I received this envelope this morning. Emily has a copy of the security tape for you, but I doubt you'll find anything on it."

Paula took her gloves out of her belt pouch, snapping on the blue latex. "You're the only one to touch it?"

"Emily touched the outer envelope when she put it on my desk. I'm the only one who has seen the contents." His voice held no emotion, but his body belied something. Fear? Anger? Disgust? Ricardo wasn't sure he wanted to find out.

Paula checked the envelope and placed it in a plastic evidence bag for forensics. "The block printing won't help place the handwriting."

Ricardo finished putting on his gloves and reached for the first clipping. "I assume this necklace is insured?"

"Of course." Gregory replied curtly, making it obvious he'd anticipated the question. "It would be impossible to replace, but my investment would be protected."

Ricardo let Paula pick up the other clip as he reached for the yellow note. "I'm sure your collection has been threatened before-"

Holding up the picture of Olivia, Paula cut him off as her face went serious. "Ricardo, look at this."

"Choose one." Gregory finished, ice filling his voice. "Interesting method of blackmail, isn't it? Instead of asking for the value of the necklace, or making some other ridiculous demands, he went straight for Olivia."

Paula handed the smiling picture of Olivia to Ricardo, concern filling her voice. "Does she know?"

"No." Gregory uncrossed his arms, grabbing the edge of his desk. "And I'd prefer if we could keep it that way."

"Do you think this is about your wife or her jewelry?" Ricardo asked softly.

Gregory reached for stapler on his desk. Caressing it and wondering how it would feel to throw it at the Detective's thick head. "You tell me."

Letting Paula put the clipping and the note into another evidence bag, Ricardo took out his notebook, snapping it open. "Can you think of anyone who has ever threatened your wife before?"

"Specifically threatened Olivia? No." When he sighed Gregory seemed nearly human. "I've had my share of idle threats tossed angrily across a courtroom, but nothing the police have ever needed to investigate."

Ricardo wrote that down, deciding to run his own background check on Olivia Richards. "What about you? How many people have a grudge against you?"

Leaving his desk for the water pitcher by the window, Gregory chuckled bitterly. "Personally or professionally?" He downed a glass of water quickly and tried to be more helpful. "I've made my share of enemies, both in and out of the courtroom. I wouldn't even know where to tell you to start."

Tightening his jaw, Ricardo was about to snap his notebook shut and leave, but Paula took over the questioning. "I know you are upset Mr. Richards, and I don't blame you. We'll get this to forensics. If you think anything else that would help us, give us a call." Paula handed him a business card, which he took almost gratefully.

"Thank you officers. I hope to hear from you shortly." He turned back to the window, finished with them.

When the door shut behind them he was alone again. Gregory stood in his empty office just long enough to feel the walls start to close in on him.

He needed to see her, to touch her, prove she was all right. Now.

Bursting through his door would have continued to frighten his poor secretary, had she not decided to escort the officers out of the building. Cutting down the hallway, Gregory stopped himself just short of throwing open the door to her office. That would make her worry. He forced himself to take a deep breath. Then another. When control was restored, he let himself open the door slowly.

Roger had moved on. Olivia ran her tongue between her lips as she concentrated on her computer screen. She didn't even look up as he crossed to the front of her desk. Just looking at her had made the tension in his shoulders ease.

She was safe.

Cautiously closing the door, Gregory kept her undisturbed. She typed, searched the screen, went through the scattered papers on her lap, the desk and the floor. Oblivious to him. Unaware of the potential danger and entirely lost in her work.

Wishing he had Alex to capture her on film, Gregory had to settle for burning her image into his mind. Committing every part of her face to memory gave him a reason to stare at her. Waiting for her to realize he was there, he let time tick by. He forgot about everything but the way Olivia furrowed her eyebrows when she concentrated. The way tiny curls of her hair teased out of the twist on the back of her head, sunlight making them look golden. 

The way her cheeks gave way to subtle dimples when Olivia smiled, finally catching him. "When were you going to tell me you were there?"

Gregory stepped out from the wall, smiling mysteriously back at her. His helplessness temporarily forgotten in her genuine pleasure at seeing him. "Maybe I wasn't going to tell you at all."


	26. Letting go

Caitlin pushed the stack of photocopies across the table at the Java Web. "This is mom's schedule for the next week. She stays at the office about an hour later then she's supposed to. Sean says she's still learning her duties."

Grinning wickedly, Cole reached for the papers as he took a bite of his scone. "This doesn't look like a secretary's handwriting."

Licking the whipped cream off her hot chocolate, Caitlin nodded in agreement. "No, mom doesn't have a secretary yet. She was telling us yesterday at dinner how complicated making all the arrangements is.."

Using his thumb gently, he cleaned stray whipped cream from the corner of her mouth. "I'm sure your father's finding her one."

She set down her cup angrily at the mention of her father. Caitlin reached into her purse for another photocopy. "This is dad's list of candidates, I think she's interviewing them next week."

Taking it happily, Cole took her hand, squeezing it in appreciation. "You're good Caitlin. Nearly as talented as you are beautiful."

Melting under his gaze, Caitlin started blushing. "So this is useful?" 

"Incredibly useful." Cole repeated, keeping her hand in his. "I couldn't do this without you." He reached across the table to take her other hand, reminding himself how innocent she was. How much fun it was going to be to change her, to mold her from the spoiled rich girl into a woman of purpose. "If it wasn't for you, I would have had to give up on my family's legacy and go home."

Sighing dramatically, Caitlin leaned in closer. "Your family has such a beautiful story. Such a romantic history, and then your cruel mother ruined it for everyone."

Smiling modestly, Cole let sorrow take over his dark eyes. "My mother is in Sunset Beach. Del Douglas told me that much. He might have told me everything- I guess it's just my luck that he was murdered before I could get anything more out of him. Another part of the Deschanel curse."

His wounded act brought sympathy up in her innocent face. Cole smiled bravely and continued. "I know she was beautiful, because my father wouldn't have been captivated by her otherwise. She must have been young when she had me. Embarrassed, maybe even engaged to someone else. She never told my father she was pregnant."

"And I keep wondering that maybe, maybe if she had just told him my father would have come back for me." Cole shrugged, pretending to hide his feelings behind a brave front. "Then I could have known him." Faltering in his act, the real bitterness he held against his mother broke through. "If she had just said something, I might not have lost both of my parents."

"Having parents isn't always as wonderful as it sounds." Caitlin interrupted, matching his degree of anger with her assumed hurt. "Sometimes I think it would have been better for me if I just hadn't known mine."

Stirring her hot chocolate angrily, she destroyed what was left of the whipped cream. "When I was young all they did was fight. Bette used to tell me stories about how in love they were. How deeply they cared for each other, once. I used to imagine how wonderful it would be when they found that again."

Cole looked up from the notes he was taking on Olivia's schedule, finding the places when she'd be alone at the office. Caitlin was truly angry, her hatred glowing in her blue eyes. He studied her, watching the sparks of instability, the unconscious twitching of her hands that hinted at a true mental breakdown. "But now I know better. Now I know that love like that is just for two people and they forget about everyone else."

In her fidgeting she destroyed a paper napkin, twisting it into a tortured knot. "At least when they were fighting they cared about me. Daddy didn't even ask where I was going when I left the house tonight. I don't know if he even noticed I left."

Cole set down the papers, got up out of his chair and knelt on the floor near her feet. "I don't know what your father is thinking. Nothing, nothing he could gain from your mother is worth losing you."

Caitlin reached down for him, pulling him up to kiss him. If only Gregory saw that. If only her father appreciated her the way Cole did.

It was long after midnight when Caitlin came home. She entered through the patio door, knowing it would make less noise. The living room was dark and quiet except for the study. Light shafted into the room from the open doorway. Was it her father?

She tiptoed over, watching the light highlight her feet as she peered around the door. Though it was her father's study, Dr. Baxter sat at the desk. Feet propped up on the desk as he condensed a stack of papers into notes he could actually use.

His ears were better then she anticipated. "Shouldn't you be in bed son?"

Caitlin laughed softly but took it as an invitation. "Probably, though I'm not anyone's son. Not even sure if I'm anyone's daughter anymore."

Sliding his glasses down his nose, Roger peaked over his notes at her with a sympathetic smile. "Come in, sit down. You sound like you need a drink. What can I get you?"

Sinking gratefully into the chair, Caitlin shrugged as she ran a hand through her hair. "I don't drink."

"Ah." Roger pulled his feet off the desk and headed for the kitchen. "Then we'll have to experiment. Come on." He flipped the light in the kitchen on, heading for the refrigerator. "Let's see what kind of goodies Rose has for us, shall we?" While he dug into the shelves, he tried to get her to open up.

"So what's going on with you and Gregory?"

Caitlin tensed immediately. "Nothing." She started, hoping for a moment he'd drop the subject. Keeping it all to herself was taking its toll, saying something might get the weight off of her shoulders. "Maybe that's the problem."

He swirled a pitcher of juice, smiling in victory. "Pineapple juice." Roger went to the cupboard, taking out two tall glasses and pointed to the freezer. "Ice." He ordered, filling the cups halfway with juice. "He's been busy lately?"

"Busy doesn't even cover it." She complained as she dropped ice cubes into their glasses. "Daddy and I used to talk all the time. He'd call me from the office when I was at school to see how I was doing. We haven't talked to each other alone since before he went to Wisconsin."

Roger picked up the glasses, leading the way back to the study. "And he needs to spend more time with you?"

"It's not just that." Shaking her head and she settled into the chair across from the desk, Caitlin tried to put her feelings into words. Her thoughts came so easily when she was with Cole. Why should talking to Roger be any different? "What's with him and mom?"

Roger finished their drinks, setting hers in front of her with a wink. "This was Lillian's favorite way back when she was a girl in school."

Caitlin took a tentative sip and smiled. "It's pretty good. Thanks." She took another sip. "But who's Lillian?"

Roger flopped down into Gregory's chair, nursing his drink thoughtfully. "The honorable Barrister Lillian Baxter was my wife for many years." He put his feet back on the desk, looking up at the ceiling. "Lovely woman, brilliant, dedicated and gorgeous. Had no business being with me really."

Taking another sip, she felt the gentle heat from the alcohol run down her throat. "What happened?"

"She left me for her wig and robe." He chuckled at her puzzled expression. "Back in England, lawyers have a very specific dress code that must be followed. Black robes and white wigs, even for the women. Quite fetching at times."

Slipping her feet out of her shoes, Caitlin pulled her feet up underneath her. "How long were you together?"

"Nearly ten years." Roger explained easily, remembering the beauty in her smile. "Lillian had always made it clear that any children we had were my responsibility first and foremost, but I've loved the little brats. So we had the boy together and Lillian started working on her bar. I began taking Ethan along on all my house calls."

"Then you understand." Caitlin realized suddenly, setting her glass down hard enough to knock some of the liquid up. " You have to understand. You were Ethan's whole world. If you suddenly stopped paying attention to him-"

Taking his handkerchief, he cleaned off the shiny surface of Gregory's desk. Roger gave her a kindly look, wondering what had happened inside her pretty head that made her so fragile. "He'd survive. I like to think I've given him enough of a hold on the world that he could make his own way."

Caitlin gulped down her drink, wiping his hand across her mouth. "What if it was too early?"

Refilling her glass with less alcohol this time, Roger ran his fingers through the gray curls of his hair. "You're twenty. How much parenting do you think you need?"

"Don't use your reverse psychology on me." Caitlin giggled, feeling the alcohol go to her head for the second time this week. "I took that class."

"Then this should be an easy question to answer." Roger teased, appealing to her pride. "What would you do, if you were your father?"

"Pay a little attention to my children for god's sake." She leaned forward in her chair, anger starting to get to her. "Talk to them. Ask them what they're doing. I haven't been home before midnight all this week and Daddy hasn't noticed."

She would have continued ranting, listening the numerous ways her parents had found to be awful lately, but Roger was laughing. Worst of all, he wasn't in hiding it behind his hand, or trying politely to pretend he wasn't. He was really laughing. "What?" She asked indignantly, crossing her arms over her chest. "What's funny about that?"

"Most young women your age would be thrilled if their father's didn't notice when they came home. " Roger put up his hands defensively when she stood up. "Of course it isn't that way for you lovey, but you have to try and get some perspective. You are an intelligent, beautiful woman. You'll be twenty-one in a few months, you'll finish college-" Coming around the desk, Roger sat her back down in the chair, perching on the edge of the desk and smiling down at her sagely.

"There comes a point where your parents stop telling you what to do and start listening to what you've done. Stop advising you and start treating you like an equal." Roger put his hands on her shoulders, wishing he could make her transition easier. "But you have to let them poppet. You have to allow them to let go."

Tucking her long blonde hair behind her ears, he tried to picture the woman inside of her. "I know it's not easy, I know it's terrifying to know you have to make your own choices." Chuckling again dryly, he realized the root of her problem. "You may have to accept that your parents trust you to live your own life now. Gregory trusts you to still come to him when you need advice, but he knows- he knows you can handle almost everything that comes your way."

Caitlin stood up and hugged him fiercely. He was so sweet, she could almost believe him. Maybe he was right and her parents were just trying to let her grow up. She kissed his cheek, smiling weakly. "Thank you for the drink."

"It's a panty ripper if you ever want to ask for it again." Roger winked as he squeezed her shoulder. "Sweet dreams lovey, try not to worry too much. Things always seem brighter in the morning."

Nodding as she yawned, Caitlin seemed inclined to agree. "Goodnight. Thanks for listening to me."

"I like to. Makes me feel useful." Roger waited in front of the desk for her to leave, waving her goodnight. "My notes on the virology lab were pretty boring anyway. If you stick around long enough, I could put you to sleep with them."

She waved back shyly as she headed up to bed. Roger returned to Gregory's chair, returning his feet to on the desk where he liked them and leaned back to dive back into the complicated needs of the research laboratory.


	27. Immortality

Alex met them on the patio, irrepressible, even in the gray before dawn. "I see you both followed your directions."

Gregory and Olivia were waiting for her on the bench in the garden, coffee beside them in a thermos to bring down to the beach. As requested, both of them were dressed simply. Olivia wore a fitted black shirt and khakis. Looking more like a PTA mother then Liberty's prized new public relationships expert.

Gregory in a faded old Stanford sweatshirt, a throwback to his law school days, and brown trousers. His hair was still ruffled slightly from sleep. Excepting the gray in his hair, he could have passed for a college student again. That carefree arrogance from his youth, returning in the way he kept his arm around Olivia's shoulders. Alex remembered him doing that to her, holding her as they watched the sun come up reflected in the Pacific.

He picked up the coffee and took Olivia's hand as they started down to the beach. "We can follow orders. Can't we sweetheart?"

Olivia hid a yawn with her free hand. "I wouldn't have if she wasn't one of our oldest friends. There's something inherently wrong with being awake before the sun comes up." 

"I am sorry." Alex repeated again as she took off her shoes to feel the sand beneath her feet. "You have to understand: it's the best lighting and the beach is empty. It's the glamour of being an artist. You're up before the sun and in bed long after it is."

She led them down the sand stopping at the water's edge and smiling at them both wickedly. "You are lucky that it's June. The water would be freezing if it was earlier in the year."

Gregory dropped to the sand to take off his shoes, casting her a suspicious glance as she looked out at the water. "You're a sadist."

"Almost all the same letters as 'artist' after all." Alex took off her battered leather backpack and started assembling her camera. "Maybe if you're both good we won't have to use the water."

"Need I remind you that you volunteered us for this?" Olivia teased as she broke into the coffee. "This was entirely your idea darling."

Gregory caught the back of her head and kissed her, passionately distracting her from the coffee. While she caught her breath, he stole the cup and drank it. She hit his shoulder, surprising herself with her audacity. He tucked the cup behind his back in response, forcing her to wrap her arms around him in an effort to get it. She forced him back to the beach, pushing him down hard enough to knock him into the sand.

Laughing, he pulled her down closer. Careful to set their one cup aside where it would be safe, he reached up and swept aside the tumble of dark curls. Pushing them all to the right side of her head so he could keep them from hanging into his face. "You're beautiful Liv."

Olivia's face softened as his sweetness took her off guard.

"I don't tell you that enough." He continued, stroking her hair gently.

Alex assembled her tripod. Tuning out their flirting with each other as she worked with her equipment. Choosing her lens, she found her place in the sand and started watching. Through the camera everything was simple. The world cut down to the circle of her shutter.

People were the worst subjects. They knew they were being photographed and when they were being watched they hid themselves. Mountains never got embarasssed about their flaws, or tried to present themselves as something they weren't. When she had started the project, Alex had wondered if she wasn't taking on the impossible. Her first interview when she got approval for the idea had said it best.

"Alex Mitchum takes on the hardest quarry of all, the people in her own life." She whispered to herself as focused in on their faces. Framing them between Gregory's hands and the cascade of Olivia's hair.

Their flirting was perfect, neither of them paid her any attention at all. Truly relieved that she wasn't going to have to remind them to be comfortable, she left herself disappear. Becoming part of each photo as she clicked the shutter, preserving herself as much as the moment in front of her.

When the sun finally broke through, a gleaming yellow over the hills behind them, Alex was done. "All right you two. You can go back to the real world now."

Blushing slightly as she realized how much time had passed, Olivia disentangled herself from her husband. "That's it?"

Alex sat down on the sand next to them, packing away her things. "I have three rolls of film to develop. You two can be very photogenic when you forget someone's watching."

Gregory and Olivia shared a guilty look. "We do tend to forget everything else, don't we sweetheart?" He explained as he rubbed her back.

Alex's laughter prevented further apology. "I'm a professional, remember? I've seen far worse." She tucked the legs of her tripod into her backpack and waved them both away. "Go on, get changed into your business selves and make me some money at Liberty."

"Aren't you coming back with us?" Olivia wondered as Gregory helped her up from the sand. "Rose should have breakfast done by now."

"We'd love for you to join us." Gregory added as he brushed sand off his pants. "Come on Alex."

She shook her head, her blonde hair remaining immobile in her tight ponytail. "No, but thank you. Thank you both very much." Standing up to hug Olivia, she wrapped her arms around her. "I'll see you later sweetie."

"I'll meet you at the office." Olivia answered, returning to Gregory's arm as Alex stood on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek.

He handed her the thermos of coffee. "At least keep this. We didn't drink much of it."

"Oh no, you had better things to do." She waved them off. "Go on, I want to get a few shots of the ocean."

"Greg you have fun with Rog in London." Alex called after them as they headed back towards the house. "Put in a good word for me. I think he's adorable."

That drew a giggle from Olivia, and she said something to Gregory that got him laughing as well.

Alex shook her head as they faded back into their house. Time had forgiven them. Maybe they had suffered enough to be redeemed. They certainly seemed like younger versions of the people she left last time she visited Sunset Beach. Gregory had his soul back in his eyes and Olivia had rediscovered that impish smile that had stolen his heart. 

Looking up at the pale morning sky, Alex sighed in relief. "Guess I'm not going to have to worry about them. Olivia will get him through any feelings he might still have for me." Setting down her camera, she ran her fingers through the cold sand. "After all, she's the one he loves."

The sun crawled out, staining the ocean pale gold. "I would like you to do me a favor though, just between you and me." Piling the sand up by her feet, Alex looked up at the clear sky. "I'm okay with leaving. Really, in a way I'm almost looking forward to it. You certainly haven't made it easy for me lately. Taking that long nap's starting to have its appeal."

"I just have the one request. Let them have that baby Gregory's dreaming about. They are so happy right now. Don't you think they've earned it?" Bearing silent witness, the ocean lapped up towards her feet.

"I do." Alex whispered as she took her hands from the sand and wiped them off on her pants before pouring herself some coffee. "You know I do."

"If you keep this up, I'll never leave." Gregory promised as Olivia nibbled her way up his neck to his ear. She pressed him back against his desk, locking her arms around his neck. "Olivia, I'm going to miss my flight." He sighed and grabbed her shoulders, pushing her away so he could look into her eyes. "I'll be back Sunday night."

She teased his cheek with a sly hand, pouting slightly. "I know. I just don't want you to forget about me while you're in London with Roger running around like a pair of schoolboys on holiday."

Finding her mock seriousness adorable, Gregory kissed her, playing with her lips one at a time. Running his tongue over her top lip, he pulled away, leaving her to catch her breath. "I could never, ever forget about you." He turned them around, leaning her against the desk instead. "But, it's really time for me to meet Roger at the airstrip."

"You're going to have to finish that when you get back." Olivia ordered firmly as she slowly opened her eyes. "It really wouldn't be polite to leave something like that undone."

"Sunday night." He reminded her as he picked up his briefcase and rebuttoned his suit jacket. "I'll bring you something special."

She retreated back behind her desk, forcing herself to let him go. "Just bring me back Gregory."

Chuckling as he shut the door, Gregory disappeared for the weekend. Olivia settled into her chair and turned away from her work to talk to the view of the ocean. "I'm going to miss you. God, am I going to miss you."

Now that Gregory was gone the weight of what she was about to do was suddenly very real. The tiny glass bottles Roger had left her sat on the desk next to the box of syringes. The long chemical labels were intimidating, and Roger's instructions were just as ominous. Thankfully he had the wisdom to write them down for Alex. She never would have remembered all of it.

Olivia was still staring out the window when Alex arrived precisely at four. "I'm ready to get you knocked up. What about you?"

Alex's bluntness brought Olivia out of her nervous state long enough to laugh. "Trust you to find the least delicate way to put it. It sounds positively crude when you put it that way."

"Too much time in the backcountry." The photographer flopped into the chair at the corner of Olivia's desk. "When your life could be extinguised by any one of a hundred terrible poisonous creatures, it alters your perspective a little." Reaching for the fertility drugs, Alex tucked all of them into her purse as she took Roger's note.

While she waited for Alex to finish reading, Olivia started packing up for the weekend. With Gregory and Roger both gone, all of her work would wait until Monday. Her briefcase was light as she stood next to the door.

Folding the note into her purse as well, Alex walked over and hugged her, bolstering Olivia against the fear in her face. "Hey, don't let Dr. over-cautious here bother you. Rog cares about you. He's always been a little protective, but he knows how you feel."

Olivia returned the hug half-heartedly. "Tell me how I feel again?" She shut the door to her office and locked it behind them.

Alex didn't have to think to know what to say. "Why are you doing this?" She pressed the button for the ground floor on the elevator. Instead of waiting for Olivia's answer, she finished her own question. "Because you love Gregory." She cast a wicked grin across the elevator to her friend. "And for you, that's always been enough of a reason to do anything."

Taking Olivia's small smile as her reward, Alex tucked her blonde hair behind her ear. "Besides, I think you want it as much as he does."

The elevator opened into the quiet Friday afternoon lobby, as Olivia followed Alex out to her car, she agreed sarcastically. "Of course. I've always loved being nauseous and wondering how slowly I'm going to have to stand up to keep from fainting. Having none of my clothes fit and listen to Gregory try to explain how lovely I look in the same day. Sounds heavenly to me."

Laughing as she unlocked her silver convertible, Alex tucked her purse under her arm. "You love it and you'll never convince me otherwise." Olivia reached up to undo her hair from the twist she wore to the office, tucking the clips away in her purse as Alex lowered the top to the warm sunshine. "You have that glow when you're pregnant. That mythicalglow all women are supposed to get and only a few actually have. You've got it."

"I do not." Olivia protested as she slipped out of her suit jacket.

Alex nodded, sealing the subject as she coasted through downtown. "Oh yes you do."

The house was empty. Sean's note on the frige said he was out with Mark, Tiffany and Ethan but he promised to be back for supper. Caitlin hadn't bothered to leave a note. She barely ever did anymore. Alex looked at the clock over the stove. "Is five a good time for you? That gives you a shot at eleven and five am."

Olivia shook her head as she put the iced tea back into the fridge. "I've already been up at five am once for you. I'm not doing it again."

Alex wrapped her hand around her glass, feeling the beads of water start to form. "You don't have to get up. I can do it without you even noticing."

They retreated up to the bedroom. Olivia felt slightly foolish going up to bed in the middle of the afternoon, but she obidiently changed into her black silk pajamas while Alex finished making up a schedule on the bottom of Roger's note. "All right, you get two now, one in six hours and another two in the morning, we repeat that tomorrow and keep our fingers crossed."

Olivia lifted up her shirt, exposing the skin of her stomach and sighing nervously as she bit her lip. "Let's get it over with."

Alex took out the little alcohol wipes she kept in her purse for her morphine injections. "It won't hurt. These are tiny little needles and I've got a practiced hand."

The alcohol was cold, and Olivia tightened her fingers on Alex's shoulder anxiously. She looked into Alex's eyes, trying to ignore what Alex was doing with her hands. "Why didn't you tell us when you found out you had cancer?"

"Because I wasn't ready." Alex replied simply as she filled and tapped the first needle. "I was afraid. Ovarian cancer is a nasty disease and I didn't know how I was ever going to survive." Olivia's fingers clamped down hard on her shoulder as the needle slipped into her stomach.

"Unlike some people I admire for their ability to ask for help-" Alex winked at her as she admitted her own failings. "My first impulse has been to run as far away as possible when I'm afraid." Capping the used needle, Alex dropped it into the bedside garbage can. "See, that didn't hurt did it?"

Olivia had to admit the thought of the needle was worse then the reality. "No, it didn't really." She still dug her fingers into Alex's shoulders as she prepared the next needle.

"But I'm home now with my son and my friends." She finished with a smile as she dropped the second needle into the garbage with the first. "Right where I need to be."

Subconciously rubbing the spot on her stomach were the needles had pierced her, Olivia settled back on the bed, wondering why Alex's smile seemed so sad.

Alex didn't let her ask as she went to her abused leather backpack. "So, what should we start with? I grabbed everything from the video rack that didn't have explosions on the front from Surf Central." 

Olivia giggled as Alex dumped a pile of video tapes out onto the floor. "Most of these are Heather's and it looks like she likes the old stuff." Making piles by her opinion of the film, Alex settled on one and popped it into the VCR.

"What did you pick out?" Olivia asked as she tried to remember how long Roger said it would take for the drugs to start doing their worst. 

Crossing the room to pull the curtains, Alex quoted. "Here's looking at you kid."

"I haven't watched Casablanca in ages." Olivia sighed nostalgically as Alex dropped to the bed next to her.

"Me either. Never have a VCR in Africa. This is a little luxurious." Running her hands over the sheets, Alex winked at her. "Especially the sheets."

"Gregory's very particular about them." Olivia explained secretively as the opening credits started across the television screen. "Gets all out of sorts if they aren't silk."

"Now there's a mental picture for me. Gregory out of sorts over his bedcovers." Giggling, Alex settled into watch the movie.

Sean knew it was unusual for Olivia to skip dinner completely. Rose had offered to bring something up, but Olivia was too sick to have any interest in it. Alex came down to eat with them instead, but she seemed worried about his mother as well. Eating quickly and without her usual spark, before she went back upstairs.

Ethan watched Sean push his steak around on his plate without eating it. "You know, you could probably pop up there and check on her. Might make you feel better."

Looking up distractedly, Sean tried to push his concern away. "I'm sure she's fine."

"She seemed fine this morning." Ethan pointed out helpfully. "How sick could she get in a few hours?"

Sean set down his fork, worry making lines grow on his forehead. "I don't know. I have to go check. I'll be right back."

Ethan nodded as he dug into his potatoes. "Try not to worry too much. I'm sure Alex would call a doctor if she was really in trouble."

"Yeah. Right." Sean agreed without hearing him. He took the stairs two at a time, knowing he should relax, but entirely unable to do so. The bedroom door was shut, and he put his ear to it. He could hear the sounds of the old Fred Astaire movie they were watching, but he didn't hear any voices. Opening the door a crack, he saw the room was dark except for the small lamp next to Alex by the side of the bed.

Hearing the door, she turned her head, covering her mouth with a finger to remind him to be quiet. She got up from the bed with great care not to make it creak. "Hey Sean." She started softly. "Had to come check on her huh?"

"It's not like mom to skip dinner." He explained with a shrug. "She's been sick before, but Rose can always get her to eat some soup or something."

Alex wrapped an arm around his back and led him up to the bed. "She's pretty out of it Sean." Sean looked down at his mother as Alex sat back down on the bed. She brushed her hand across Olivia's forehead like a mother with a sick child. "I don't think she even knew Rose was here."

Olivia looked like hell, her face flushed with fever, eyes closed but moving beneath their lids in twisted dreams. Her eyes opening for a moment when Alex touched her, before sliding back up into her head. She didn't even seem to see him.

Surprised, Sean took a step backwards. "She was fine this morning."

Alex nodded, smiling sympathetically. She knew the story she was supposed to use, and though she hated lying to the boy, she had promised. "I think she just picked up Tiffany's flu. She started feeling sick almost as soon as she got to the office, and as soon as I got her home it was all I could do to get her into bed, poor thing."

"Did you call dad?" Sean stammered softly.

This time Alex shook her head. "She didn't want him to worry. He is all the way in London and there's nothing he could do except worry."

"Is there anything I can do?"

Alex got up from the bed and gave him a quick hug as she led him to the door. "Oh no honey. I can take care of her. You just go downstairs and finish dinner."

Deeply uneasy, Sean nearly ran down the stairs. Ethan waited for him at the bottom. "So, what's the verdict?'

"She's really sick." He replied nervously. "Way worse then Tiffany was."

Ethan put a supportive hand on his shoulder. "Want me to call my dad and get some advice?"

"Maybe." Mom didn't want his father involved, but she was sick, really sick. Even though he didn't always get along with Gregory, Sean knew his father ought to know. It just seemed right. Sean thought about it for another moment and then headed straight for the study. "I'm going to call my dad. Get them both back here."

Finding the number for the air tower, he dailed it quickly, impatiently passing through the switchboard until he finally had his father on the other end. 

"Sean? What's wrong?" His father's voice had never sounded so wonderful in all his life.

"You need to come home."

It was almost four in the morning when Gregory finally made it up to his bedroom door. He hadn't slept since Sean called. He couldn't. Roger had been kind enough to stay awake and try and keep him from tearing up parts of the plane in his nervousness. But he was home now.

He could barely see her in bed with her back to him. The shadow of Olivia was curled on his side of the bed. She must have missed him terribly once she became ill. Dropping his jacket over a chair by the door, he sat down in the near total darkness on the edge of the bed. Leaning down over her sleeping body to kiss her.

Olivia's lips weren't hot. He had expected to find her burning up as Sean had described, but she was cool to the touch, and responsive as she reached for him. Pulling him down to her as she rolled over towards him. Gregory leaned down to her, burying his fingers in her hair.

But her hair was short, ending just above her shoulders. The texture was wrong. Too soft, too fine. It wasn't Olivia's hair and it certainly wasn't her lips.

Gregory sat up with a start, too shocked to speak As his eyes adjusted to the darkness he found himself staring down into the face of Alex Mitchum.

"Gregory?"


	28. No other choice

It was an incredibly vivid dream, so real Alex would have sworn it was actually happening. Gregory leaned down over her, kissing her sweetly as if he didn't intend for her to wake up. Running his hands through her hair like he used to when he was in law school.

Then her dream was shattered, Gregory vanished as she woke up. His face faded away, back into the depths of her subconscous. Expecting to find the ceiling of Olivia's bedroom when she opened her eyes, Alex gasped and pulled back when she saw him.

Gregory was real.

Real and deeply confused. "Where's Olivia?" His brown eyes were nearly panicked.

Alex swallowed the hurt down into the pit of her stomach. "She's right here." She assured him gently, pulling down the blankets Olivia had pulled up to her chin.

Gregory circled the bed, kneeling by Olivia's side. He reached for her cheek with infinite gentleness, pulling back his hand when he realized how heated her skin was. "She's burning up. What the hell did you do to her?"

Alex pulled the blankets back up over Olivia's shoulder, leaving the bed and taking Gregory's arm. Dragging him to the back corner of the bedroom and staring him down. "Exactly what she asked me to do." She whispered back angrily.

He grabbed her arm and she fought free of him with effort. Alex had forgotten how strong he was when he was angry. "What are you talking about?" He demanded, the volume of his voice rising above a whisper.

Alex hushed him with a hand over his mouth. "Apparently you've forgotten how well she reads your mind."

Gregory's eyes burned at her and he pulled her hand away, bending back her arm. "What are you getting at Alex?"

"Fertility drugs sound familiar to you?" She shot back as she yanked her hand away. Gregory couldn't bully her. She knew how to deal with him. "You pulled off the first round without her knowing about it, can you blame her for trying to do the same thing?"

That did it. She had knocked him back enough to watch the anger drain from his face. His eyes darted back to the bed. "She didn't..."

Nodding slowly, Alex pointed to the top drawer of the desk. "There's two little glass bottles in there that say otherwise. She gets two more shots-" She paused to look down at her watch. "In an hour. I can teach you how to use the needles and you can do it yourself."

All the residual anger drained from his face an he ran a hand through his hair, trying to regain his control. "Shots?"

"You got lucky Greg." She informed him briskly. "The drugs you gave her were nothing compared to this stuff." Taking the bottles carefully from the drawer she handed them to him, letting him feel how tiny they were. How seemingly insignificant. "The one on the left is the one that gave her the fever. Rog says it'll wear off when it clears her system on Sunday. The one on the right is a sedative, something to keep her mind seperated from her body so she won't remember being delirious all weekend."

Taking them from his limp fingers, Alex left the drugs out on the table as she sat down on the floor. "Not so easy when it's out of your control, is it?"

Gregory shook his head as he sank down on the floor next to her. "I had no idea."

She rubbed his knee sympathetically. "That was the idea. Pretend as if nothing had happened when you came home Sunday." Tilting her head up to check that Olivia still slept, Alex smiled gently. "She really loves you."

Again playing with his hair, Gregory sighed heavily. With his anger abated, he felt his exhaustion caress him with needy fingers. "I know." His voice barely carried the short distance between them.

"That's what scares you." Alex finished as she reached for his hand. "Olivia's endless capacity to forgive you."

"I look at her and wonder what I'd have done." He let her entwine her small fingers with his as he stared at Olivia's back beneath the blankets. "If I could have survived the kind of cruelty I'm capable of."

Being present for Gregory's tears was like being allowed to touch his soul. The rarest sign of trust he had to offer.

Alex filled her face with warmth. "Maybe you should just consider yourself lucky." She rocked forward on her knees and kissed his cheek, taking the wetness of his tears on her lips. "Go get changed. I'll get Olivia her shot and let you get to bed. I'm sure she'll sleep better knowing you're here."

He caught her as she stood up, making her pause as he read what was in her heart. He had known her too long not to see her feelings like printing across her face. "Thank you."

Gregory leaned down to kiss her forehead as he stood up. "Thank you." He repeated again.

Alex closed her eyes, not trusting the tears to stay back by any other method, but even that failed her. Her eyes stung as she filled the first needle. She wiped at her eyes in frustration as she moved to the second bottle. Sitting by Olivia's side, she studied quiet face beneath her. "You're both lucky."

Removing Olivia's blanket made her groan softly at the temperature change. Alex rested her hand on her forehead, "It's all right. Your darling came home for you. I think I was a little hard on him though." She traced a neat circle with the alcohol swab on the pale skin just inside Olivia's right hip. "He needed a good smack upside the head, but that stays between you and me."

Olivia's eyelids fluttered as Alex finished the first injection. Her whisper was barely audible, and Alex leaned close to hear her. "I hope you didn't hit him to hard."

Fiercely wiping her tears away, Alex tucked Olivia's wild hair back behind her head. "I think his head is hard enough to take it."

Wincing as the second needle sank into her flesh, Olivia bit her lip until Alex was done. "You're right." She whispered slowly, her words fading in and out. "...heart...soft."

Alex stared down at he as she dropped the needles into the garbage with the others. "His heart is soft." She deciphered after a moment. "I think you've gotten under his shell."

Olivia tried to force her eyes open, but she settled for finding Alex's leg and resting her hand there. "Weak spot...I'm his weak spot." Her fever was enough to even make her hand radiate heat. Shivering got her eyes open a crack. "Cold."

Alex pulled the blanket back up, but the heat from it had escaped. Crawling into bed next to Olivia, she shared her body heat. "You'll warm up in a second."

With her head resting on Alex's arm, Olivia managed the barest of smiles as her eyes closed again. "Where's Gregory?"

"Getting out of his clothes." She explained simply, rubbing Olivia's arm. "He's been in that suit all day, all night too. Turned his plane around for you. Right in the middle of the Atlantic."

"Sounds romantic." Olivia yawned weakly, snuggling into the warmth of Alex's presence. "Are you sure it was Gregory?"

"You can ask him yourself." The shower came on, sounding like rain and Alex smiled sleepily. "When he gets out of the shower."

Olivia moved her head just enough to indicate no. "I'll be asleep."

Letting her eyes close was blissful, and Alex wondered if she'd still be awake when Gregory finished in the shower. "I think I will be too." She admitted as she started to give in to her own exhaustion.

What would Gregory make of them both asleep in his bed? Alex smiled even as she started to drift off.

"He'll have to share." Olivia answered for her. "It'll be good for him."

Even half-asleep, the thought of Gregory sharing anything, much less his bed, made Alex laugh. Her heart rising a bit as she faded into sleep.

Gregory took his time in the shower, partially due to the need to let himself relax - partially because he was too exhausted to do anything quickly. He certainly got more sleep when he was on the outs with Olivia. It was more than a fair trade to have her though. Sleep could always be made up later. Shutting off the water, he reached for the towel he had left out on the counter. He dumped his clothes from the day into the hamper in the closet and retrieved his pajamas.

The gray pair that Olivia thought made him look like going to bed was a serious endeavor. One of the little things about her that always sprung to mind at the oddest moments. Gregory rolled his head over his shoulders, wishing the tension out of his neck. He could relax, Olivia had been in good hands the entire time. Alex had taken good care of her.

And he had kissed her. In his concern, Gregory hadn't even thought about his mistake. As with all things, it would need to be to be dealt with. He dug his fingers into a knot just above his shoulder blade as he crept back into the master bedroom. It took his eyes a moment to adjust, even coming from the soft light of the bathroom. The darkness was so complete, swallowing color and only allowing him the gray outlines of figures in his bed.

Neither woman moved as he approached the bed, proving his speculation that Alex had fallen asleep. This time she had wisely left Olivia in the middle, leaving his side of the bed empty. He paused, envying their surrender. His mind was still running at full speed. Gregory reached down and straightened the blanket over Olivia's shoulder. Smiling at the way she rested her head on Alex's arm, he brushed his hand across the hot skin of her cheek. "I don't know if I could do what you're doing Olivia."

"You are so precious to me." He shook his head slowly, tracing the her hair into curls on the pillow. "I don't know why it's so hard to say when you're awake." Sitting down slowly, he rested his hand on her shoulder. "I wonder, if I tell you how brave you are, would you still let me hold you when you're afraid?"

Gregory's voice dropped, becoming barely audible over the sound of the ocean outside. "What do I do when I'm afraid?"

Olivia slept on, innocent of his concern. Watching her was becoming painful, he couldn't take the fever from her body any more then he could find the man after her. The man asking him to choose. Leaning down nearly close enough to brush her ear with his lips, Gregory tapped the anger he built himself around. Using it to drive the fear back. "There is no choice Liv."

It didn't matter that she didn't know the question, because that was the only answer.

Fleeing the bedroom, he found his way to the kitchen, suprised to find it full of activity. Sean and Ethan took turns over the stove, while Roger leaned back on the counter with a full cup of coffee.

"Gregory! Thought you'd be in bed by now." Roger started with a far too cheerful smile for the hour before dawn.

Sean tossed a look over his shoulder, trying not to yawn. "How's mom?"

"She's sleeping. Alex took good care of her." He replied as he tried to figure out what Ethan and Sean were doing in the kitchen, much less awake.

Ethan answered the silent question as he turned around, still scrambling his eggs as he tossed his dad a grin. "Are you going to have toast ready? Because these are just about done, and Sean's sausage isn't far behind."

Roger set down his mug, jumping across the kitchen to the toaster. "Forgive me, I was lost in my coffee. Too old for all-nighters, ay Richards?"

Ethan set his eggs back on the stove and headed to the cabinet for plates. "Are you going to join us?"

Gregory took a moment to realize the young man was talking to him, and it took another moment to wonder if he was hungry. "All right."

"More toast dad." Ethan reminded firmly as he divided his pan of eggs four ways unto the deep blue plates. "How's the sausage?"

"Looking pretty good." Sean dropped it next to the eggs on the plates as Ethan dove into the fridge for some jam. "Nice eggs."

"Years of practice." The other young man replied as he emerged from the huge refridgerator. "Rose has a lovely kitchen, makes it a pleasure to cook in."

Roger finished with the first round of toast and knives flew to get it buttered while it was still hot. "I bet you're wondering why I've got the juniors here awake at this hour."

Gregory thought about the coffee, but he knew he'd never get to sleep that way. He settled for juice. "I was about to ask."

Ethan and Sean pulled up their stools to the counter and attacked their food as their father's looked on. Roger started on his second cup of coffee, dipping the crusts of his toast into it. "I'm taking them to England. Got through the board we were going to meet and told them I'd come anyway, I'm reasonably capable of running a meeting."

"Ethan's going to show me the Baxter Estate." Sean pointed out as he gulped down his second piece of toast.

Ethan stopped shoveling down his eggs for a moment and elbowed Sean. "You should tell your father what else you're going to do."

Gregory poked at his food with his fork, looking expectantly at his son. "What else are you going to do in England

Sean stared at his plate for a moment, then he looked up to give his father a huge smile. "I've been accepted to East Chesterfield undergrad. I just need to interview for the program-" Ethan elbowed him again and Sean elaborated as his face went pink.

"The pre-med program."

Feeling a rush of pride, Gregory returned his son's nervous smile. "That's great Sean. That's really great." He watched the blush continue to spread on Sean's face. He did have the gentle temperment to be a doctor, didn't he. "May I tell your mother or would you like me to wait and let you do it?"

Sean flashed a bright smile before going back to his breakfast. "You can tell her."

Roger patted Sean on the back warmly. "Do her good to get some happy news. I do think you're going to love it. Not that I'm an unbiased opinion."

"It's a good school Sean. Even if they let the likes of Roger be faculty."

Roger threw his toast at Gregory and the kitchen dissolved into laughter. "You're just jealous because they let me influence the minds of youth, and you just prance about your office all day feeling self important and yelling at secretaries..."

As the trio of men departed for the airport, Roger pretending to complain how it felt like only yesterday he had been flying for England, Gregory finally went to bed. Crawling in next to Olivia without even bothering to feel awkward knowing Alex was on the other side of his wife. Somehow, it made him feel better knowing Olivia was surrounded. Protected on both sides.


	29. Nightmare

Caitlin was still in tears when she answered the door. "Thank you for coming."

Cole hugged her immediately. "Hey, you can always call me when you need something." He had already heard the whole story on the phone but let her smuggle him upstairs to tell him again. Olivia was sick, apparently sick enough that Gregory had cancelled a meeting in England and turned his plane around to come home. Caitlin's version was far more elaborate, and her continued insistance that somehow Olivia was faking the whole thing was starting to sound a little paranoid.

Fever was nearly impossible to self-induce. Vomiting, he would have understood. As he held her against his chest, he wondered just how far over the edge his prodding had taken her. How much of his dislike he had communicated to her already? It seemed it would take little, if any work at all by him to completely push her over the edge. He reminded himself to use restraint. Time was the best weapon in his arsenal, and it's gradual march would be what finally brought Gregory Richards down.

"Where's your mother's room?"

Alex crept out of the kitchen. Keeping one ear open for the teaport, as she found Gregory asleep on the couch in his study. A group of papers scattered around his hands. Confident she could examine them without waking him, she pulled them free of his grasp. It looked like a list of biographies at first. People who had at one point been involved with a case of Gregory's. Searching until she had it all, she assembled the stack. As she suspected, the first page had the explaination.

"Every person who has ever made a threat against your wife. Chronological order, and then by threat assessment. Identical papers were passed to the SBPD earlier today." The curt explaination across the top stated dryly. She started paged through the lists, taking them with her to the kitchen to wait for Olivia's tea.

The bedroom door was unlocked. That was Gregory's first mistake. He assumed Olivia was safe in her house. Shutting and locking the door behind him, Cole scanned the room quickly. The window was the most obvious escape route, he went to it and opened it enough to be able to dive out of if need be.

Olivia lay in the center of the bed, a tiny dark figure in the cream-colored sheets. She pulled away from the open window, turning her back to him. Cole prowled his way around the bed, starting his approach from the far corner and creeping up towards her. Caitlin had done Olivia's illness an injustice. Her face was flushed, the skin over her cheekbones taunt and even her lips were dry. As he took the scissors from his pocket, Cole wondered why Gregory hadn't taken her to a doctor. Maybe he took some perverse kind of pleasure in keeping his wife locked away.

Cole listened for Caitlin's voice, she had promised to distract anyone who ventured into the hallway. All was quiet so he removed the length of ribbon from his breast pocket and choose his piece of Olivia's hair. Tying his ribbon tightly around one dark curl, he reached out with the scissors. Picturing Gregory's face when he opened his latest envelope to find the curl of hair missing from Olivia's head. "You'll look at it and know how close I was to your precious wife."

"You'll know I touched her." Cole whispered to himself as he tucked the lock of hair back safe in his pocket. As he put the scissors away, he stared down at Olivia. She hadn't stirred. He had been almost hoping she'd wake up, somehow sensing the violation and letting him see the fear in her eyes.

Cole studied the pulse of blood in the thick veins of her neck. Only a thin layer of skin and muscle between life and a terrible gasping death. There would be fear in her eyes then, if he took the scissors and reminded her just how fragile her grasp on this life was. He caressed the hollow of her throat with feather-light fingers. Her pulse was quick, rushed onward by her illness. He caressed her neck, feeling the slow back and forth of her breathing. It was all so fleeting, one extended squeeze and that breath would stop.

He rested his weight back on his knees, adding a second hand to her throat. She wouldn't even get a chance to scream-

Caitlin's voice cut through his imaginings from another world. "Hey, Alex can I talk to you for a second?"

Cole didn't have long. Only a moment before he needed to be out that window. He squeezed his fingers into her neck, pressing just hard enough to make the blood work harder to make it's way up. Olivia's eyes only took part of his moment to snap open. He felt her throat gurgle beneath his touch, as soon as he released the pressure she started to scream.

Alex pressed Olivia's tea into Caitlin's hand and went immediately to the door. Shoving the knob hard, she was surprised to find it locked. She didn't even know the room had a lock. "Key? Where's the key?" She demanded from Caitlin.

The girl looked at her stupidly, holding the tea and staring at the door, as if her mother's crying had no effect on her. Alex cursed under her breath, evaluated her options for a moment and moved Caitlin out of the way. She jiggled the knob again, knowing Olivia wouldn't be any help. She bent down to peer at the lock. The mechanism was simple enough, but she didn't have any pins in her hair. Ready to run to the bathroom, Alex caught sight of the golden pins in Caitlin's thick blonde hair.

Attacking her head, Alex freed two. "Sorry honey-" She added as an afterthought as she picked the lock. Finally it clicked open and she ran in. The bed was empty. "Olivia?"

A desperate hand grabbed at her leg and Alex turned around to find her sitting on the floor next to the door. "What are you doing down here?" She asked with deep concern as she knelt down next to her.

Both of Olivia's hands were on her throat, her eyes brilliant with terror. "Someone was here." She choked out. "There was a man."

Alex looked around the room warily. "I don't see anyone."

"He was here." Olivia insisted as Alex helped her slowly to stand up. Her balance was off, her legs too exhausted to take much of her weight. Alex didn't have the strength to move her on her own.

"Caitlin?" Alex called her request into the hallway. "I need your help honey."

The younger woman entered the bedroom cautiously, setting down the tea and crossing her arms over her chest. "What?"

Taking Olivia's hands from her throat, Alex held them in her own to calm her down. "Would you go wake up your father? He's on the couch in his study." Alex stroked Olivia's forehead patiently waiting for her terror to fade. Caitlin was perfectly capable of helping move her mother back to bed. Alex knew she was, but something in her gut told her to get Gregory. There was something off in the way Caitlin looked at her mother. She couldn't put her finger on it, and she couldn't think of any reason for Caitlin to treat Olivia badly, but there was something.

Alex was still lost in thought when Olivia got her attention with her soft apology. "I'm sorry to be so much trouble."

"You had a nightmare." Alex reasoned gently as she ran her hand through Olivia's soft black hair. "That's no reason to apologize. Your darling and I will have you back in bed in no time."

Olivia leaned her back against the wall, starting to believe it had just been a dream. "Would be easier if I could stand up on my own wouldn't it?" She observed dryly, making Alex chuckle.

"Yes, that it would." Alex agreed as she retrieved the tea from the table. "Here, drink this while we wait for Gregory." Staring at it with little interest, Olivia's eyes begged to be let off the hook, but Alex shook her head firmly no. "Can't let you get dehydrated."

Olivia took a sip and sighed. "I guess you do have a vested interest. It's going to be all your fault."

Alex grinned, pleased that she had managed to keep some of her sense of humor. "How is it my fault?"

Gesturing for Alex to come closer as Gregory finally appeared in the doorway, Olivia whispered. "If I turn out to be 'knocked up' I'm going to tell my husband it was you."

Bursting into laughter, Alex set Olivia's tea aside. Gregory gave them both a bemused expression, too tired to argue. Getting Olivia to her feet and back to bed was easy with both of them.

Alex let Gregory tuck the blankets around her as she retrieved Olivia's tea. "Did you open the window?"

Gregory shook his head. "No and I strongly doubt Olivia did."

"You saw how well I get around by myself." Olivia pointed out as she finished off her tea.

Puzzled, Alex went to the window and shut it. Noticing the faint scratches in the paint. Scratches that led outwards. She peered out into the garden, from the balcony it was a reasonable drop to the patio wall. In better health, she could have done it. Chasing her concerns away with a smile, she turned back to find Gregory asleep, Olivia curled around him.

"Warm enough?" Alex teased as she perched on the bed.

Olivia nodded happily, only opening her eyes halfway. "It's not five already is it?" Her voice took on a plantive whine as she realized it was time for another round of injections. "I should have known. As soon as I start to feel better, it's time to jab me again."

Sighing as she filled the syringe, Alex indicated that she should roll over. "After these two you only have three left."

Wincing melodramatically, Olivia opened one eye all the way to see what Alex was doing. "Can't we just stop now?"

Performing the second shot quickly, Alex rested her hand on her friend's shoulder as she tossed the needle. "Probably not, but remember, tomorrow morning's the last two. If you can sleep through that, you'll be done."

Olivia rolled back over to sthingy against her husband. "Thank God."

"Hey, before you drift out on me, tell me about your dream." Alex asked as she got up to check on the windowsill again. The scratches in the paint were definitely real.

"I was sleeping." Olivia started lazily. "Then there was this man staring at me. He had these horribly cold dark eyes."

"Good, keep going, tell me what he looked like," Measuring the scratches on the vertical frame of the window against herself, she guessed he must have nearly a foot taller then she was.

Yawning as she tried to remember, Olivia paused. "Dark hair, maybe curly. Very white teeth, this sadistic smile..." She shivered and snuggled closer to Gregory's warm body. "He would have been handsome if he wasn't trying to kill me."

Alex pulled the curtains closed, stopped at the bed to squeeze Olivia's shoulder. "No more bad dreams, okay?"

Olivia bobbed her head barely. "Okay."

Alex ducked out of the room, letting them both get some sleep. She had Gregory's threat lists to go over. It was thoughtful of Stanton to include photographs, her search would have been a lot slower without them.


	30. Casey

"Then what happened?" Cole pressed as he walked his fingers up from Caitlin's stomach to the valley between her naked breasts. "What did your father do when the box came?"

Caitlin smiled, remembering the yelling, the sound of smashing ceramic. "He lost it. Smashed up the living room, couldn't even look at mom for hours. Alex had to take her to bed." Burying her fingers in his wavy dark hair, she lifted the sheet to let him run his fingers back down her side, unobstructed. "I heard them fighting when he finally went upstairs. He wouldn't tell mom what was going on. I sat outside the door until she told him to get out. I think dad might have spent the night in the guest room."

Grinning at his victory, Cole nibbled at her neck, pleased at how quickly she was learning to bend to his way of thinking. "Excellent. The more space we can drive between them, the closer we get to my rightful inheritance."

"How?" Caitlin wondered as she stroked the muscles of his chest. "Why does breaking them up get us the jewels?"

Cole kissed her shoulder, running his lips down to her collarbone. "Two ways. Your parent's implode like they seem to have a history of doing. Without your father, taking the jewels will be a walk in the park."

She turned to him, enjoying the thought of her mother alone and helpless at Cole's hands. "Or, they manage to stay together and we move to the next step."

Propping herself up on her elbow, Caitlin pulled the sheet up. "The next step?"

Cole rolled away for a second, pulling the plane tickets from the top of the table by their hotel room bed. "Monte Carlo."

Taking the tickets, she started to laugh. "What are we going to do in Monte Carlo?"

"I'm going to call in a few favors." Gregory was tougher to break then he had given him credit for. Cole was going to need some extra equipment. "You are going to learn the trade, just like you've been asking."

Squealing in delight, Caitlin attacked him. Cole returned her clumsy kisses, thinking of her trust fund as he rolled her over to continue his deflowering. As far as virginal heiresses went, she was neither the richest or the most beautiful, but she was certainly the easiest to turn. There was a fascinating instability in her that was going to prove essential to his goals.

"Mom, I'm not working for Gregory Richards! I'd rather be a lifeguard, at least then I'm out there saving people's lives, not being some kind of secretary." Casey continued protesting as he followed her into the elevator.

Alex rolled her eyes in annoyance. "I'm not asking you to be a secretary. I'm asking you to be an assistant. All you have to do is learn about the business so you can manage your own stock someday. I didn't keep my quarter of Liberty just to pass it off to some accountant."

She hit the button for the fifth floor. "I don't see what it is between you and Gregory anyway. He's my oldest friend, you could be a little nicer to him. He's not a bad person."

Casey shrugged, trying to decide how to explain his feelings. "I guess he reminds me too much of dad. Too controlling-"

Alex squeezed his elbow. "There's another man I wish you got along better with."

Shaking his head he gestured for her to leave the elevator first. "What is it with you lately? Did you have some sort of spirtual cleansing in Nambia you didn't tell me about?"

Alex managed a small smile. "I just worry about you having trouble with male role models."

"Gregory Richards is a role model?" Incredulous, Casey stopped her in the hallway. "You want me to be more like him?"

"He has a family and a sucessful career, he donates a huge amount of money to charity. He's still madly in love with his wife."

Laughing, Casey continued to head down the hallway. "That's it, you're just a hopeless romantic."

Alex blushed a little. "He makes Olivia happy. And you can't not like her." She hit him on the arm playfully. "She's a sweetheart."

"Olivia Richards seems like a classy lady." Casey admitted with a smile. "She did a lovely job playing hostess at the charity ball."

"Good. Go talk to her while I catch up with Gregory." Alex pushed him towards the closed door of Olivia's office. "We need a minute to talk like grownups."

Casey put up his hands in confusion. "All right. What do I say to her?"

"Tell her about Heather." Alex winked as her son started to blush. "She's a bit of a hopeless romantic too." He looked at her piteously, not quite ready to have everyone hear about his new love. "Five minutes. Give me five minutes with Gregory. I'm sure you can make conversation with her for that long. Please?"

He reached for the door obidiently. "What do you need to talk to Gregory about anyway?"

"If you must know, your mother needs to talk about her love life." Laughing as he started blushing again, Alex retreated towards Gregory's office.

"This isn't about that Englishman, is it?" Casey called after her. "The one with the antlers?"

"I'm not listening to you anymore!" Alex retorted, still chuckling as she entered Gregory's office.

"You've got Liv working kind of late Esquire." She teased as she tapped her watch. "Shouldn't you be getting home for dinner?"

Gregory looked up from his paperwork with a tired smile. "I just need to finish this up for Legal Aid."

"Doing some Pro Bono work?" Alex remarked with mild amusement as she sifted through the mess.

"We rotate around the firm. My turn came up." He reached for the casefile, adding more notes to his scribbled legal pad. "I thought you were bringing Casey by with you?"

"He's in with Olivia. I told him to talk to her for a bit, so I could get you alone."

Gregory chuckled softly. "Pretty one-sided conversation. She's been asleep for the last hour." He indicated the small video monitor on the floor by his feet. "See?"

Alex crossed to stand behind him and smiled down at the black and white image of her son standing in the door of Olivia's office, watching her sleep. "When did you get this done?" She teased as she pointed at the monitor with her foot. "And has she killed you for being overprotective yet?"

"This morning, and no, she doesn't know about it." He started stacking up his papers. "I needed to be able to keep an eye on her."

Alex rubbed his shoulder, smiling as she realized his missing suitcoat was draped over Olivia in the other room. "Bastard shook you up a bit, didn't he?"

Gregory sighed heavily and reached for the hand on his shoulder. "When I went to bed I attacked her. Nearly shook her until she passed out."

"Gregory!" She reprimanded with a gentle slap on the back of his head. "You can't keep doing that. Especially not-"

He finished for her. "If we're going to have a baby." Gregory stacked his papers in his briefcase. "I was just so angry."

"Hey, if this Cole bastard showed up now, I'd probably help you kill him." Alex shrugged honestly. "You have to keep that part away from Olivia. Find something to pour it into. Golf, polo, racquetball, something- that lets it out."

"Otherwise Cole is going to win." Gregory finished her thought as he stared down at the video monitor, watching as Olivia stirred slightly in her sleep. "Why can't she just be safe?"

Alex took the briefcase from his hand and hugged him earnestly. "I don't know, but I've got a lot of faith that you can keep her that way."

Olivia moved again, the gray suit jacket Gregory had over her as a blanket slipped slightly, and as they both watch, Casey stepped forward to rearrange it over her shoulder. "Got him."

Gregory studied Alex's impish smile and shook his head in admiration. "You knew Olivia was asleep."

"Emily told me." She explained lightly.

"You knew Casey would never agree to work for me-"

"But seeing how vulnerable Olivia could be would appeal to that knight-in-shining armor complex he has." Alex finished with a proud wink. "And he fell for it. A Franklin says he walks in that door, shakes your hand and agrees to take the job."

As the knock came at the door of his office, Gregory flashed her the bill before he tucked it into his breast pocket. "Come in."

"Hello honey." Alex welcomed. "We were just talking about you."

Casey raised his eyebrows innocently. "Nothing bad I hope."

"Oh no." Gregory baited with a knowing look at Alex. "Just that your mother doesn't think you'll be joining us at Liberty-"

Casey's eyes widened and he smiled. Gregory noting just how honest that smile was. "Actually, I wanted to talk to both of you about that."

"Really?" Alex asked with great amusement.

Casey extended his hand towards Gregory- "I'd be honored to work with your wife."

Gregory paid up as Alex and Casey left him by Olivia's office. Both promising to meet them at Grenadine's. The fabled Dr. Heather Jensen, the new woman in Casey's life was going to make an appearance. From the way Alex teased her son, it was obvious she too was infatuated with the young woman.

Looking forward to dinner, he sat on the small cound next to Olivia's knees, resting his hand on her shoulder as he watched the sleep take the years from her face. "Liv-"

She moaned softly, pulling his jacket up to her chin. "It can't be morning yet."

Gregory chuckled as he tickled her chin. "It's nearly night kiddo. We're going to dinner with Alex, Casey and his new girlfriend. Remember?"

Olivia opened her eyes tentatively. "I am hungry."

He sat her up, kissing her cheek as he straightened her hair. "It's Wednesday, they always have that salmon you like."

She kissed his nose playfully as they left the couch. "Maybe I'd rather have steak."

"Steak?" Surprised, Gregory wrapped an arm around her back as he led her to the elevator. "I can never get you to eat steak."

"It sounds divine right now." She leaned her head against his shoulder and let him plant kisses in her hair. "Actually, anything hot and steaming sounds pretty amazing."

"It's a nice surprise to see your appetite came back." He noted with quiet relief.

She turned around in his arms, pulling him down by his tie. "Maybe there will be some more surprises for you tonight." Olivia's tongue flicked out to touch the corner of his mouth, inviting him playfully.

He returned her kiss with more reserve. "Only if you're up to it. You've been a little tired lately."

Disappointed, but touched by his concern, Olivia wove her fingers into his as they headed for the parking lot. "You're certainly being considerate." She mentioned as he opened her door for her before crossing to his own.

"That 'flu' bug took a lot out of you." He squeezed her fingers for a second before letting go to use his hands to drive the car. "I don't want to rush you."

"What if I promise I'm not contagious?" Olivia hid a yawn behind her hand and decided to save Gregory from the uncomfortable silence that followed her question. "You are so sweet when you're worried about me."

He nearly popped the clutch at a stoplight, and she gave him a look. He cast a glance at her as she licked her lips thoughtfully. "I'm a basket-case. All right?"

She was still laughing when they pulled up and Grenadines. He handed the keys off to the valet and led her inside. "I think you're adorable." She whispered just as they passed the host, making him blush slightly. As he pulled out her chair at the table, she caught his hand just long enough to whisper one more thing.

"I love you."


	31. you'll be dead

Casey straightened his tie in the mirror, on the third try he liked what he saw enough to leave it. He finished his coffee and left his cup in the sink.

"If I did know better, I'd be jealous." Heather teased as she threw her wetsuit over her shoulder and headed for the door. "You've never gone to that much trouble for me."

Jogging to catch up to her, Casey grinned. "Just because the only suit you've ever asked me to put on is one of these-" He grabbed the sleeve of her suit and used it as a puppet.

"I don't need a tie. I'm the best kind of suit there is because you don't need to look professional or worry about what Casey's mother thinks when he puts it on." The wetsuit explained in a high-pitched voice.

Heather played along, taking the other sleeve and giving it a gruff voice. "Casey's mother would be proud of him no matter what he wore. I think he's concerned about blending in with the country-club set."

Addressing the wetsuit, Casey nodded with a nervous smile. "It's my first real job. One where I get to wear a shirt, let alone a jacket and tie."

Laughing, Heather kissed him lightly before heading down the steps of Surf Central. "I'm sure you'll be great."

She headed down the beach to the boat from the Oceanographic Institute that was waiting for her. "See you at dinner."

"See you."

The Liberty security guard met him at the front desk. "Mr. Richards has a few details I need to go over with you sir, if you'll come with me."

Feeling rather like a secret agent, Casey followed him downstairs to the security headquarters. First he was finger-printed, photographed and voice-identified. He wrote his name five times for the signature recognition software. Then he copied the FBI's handwriting analysis paragraph twice. The guard fed his information into the fax machine, and waited for the ID badge and keyguard to print out.

"This is your identification card, you'll need it to get in and out of the building before and after business hours." Holding up it, he showed Casey the picture he had just taken on the front. "The strip on the back will get you into the fifth floor offices, the board room and records room. You have access to the company cars, private lot and limosuine service. Mr. Richards has requested that you be given a personal car immediately, I'll need to copy your driver's license."

Casey opened his wallet and handed it over. "What kind of car do I get?"

The guard, whose nametag read Peter Halloran, smiled easily. "Mr. Richards must be fond of you. You can choose between the standard Mercedes C-class or the Jaguar he drove until last year."

Casey whistled as pictures and keys for both cars emerged from the folder at his fingertips. "I don't make that much in a year."

Halloran handed back his driver's license with a wink. "You're just beneath board-level employee. You do now." He turned the pictures of the cars back towards him. "Personally, I'd go for the Jaguar. Mr. Richards is nothing but particular when it comes to his things. It'll probably run like a dream."

Car keys in one pocket, and his new ID in the other, Casey headed up to the elevator. He couldn't help feeling like an imposter in his business suit. Online law school was a far cry from working for the handful of people who owned Sunset Beach. He knocked on the door and waited, expecting Olivia to buzz him in.

She surprised him when she opened the door herself and ushered him in. "Good morning. Did you survive Gregory's security?"

"Are we doing some work for the NSA or something I don't know about?" He asked as he held up the ink on his fingertips. "You're going to tell me you're a double agent for MI-6 and your entire life is a deep-cover set up."

Olivia looked at him thoughtfully as she circled back behind her desk. "I must be talented to stay undercover for twenty years." She raised an eyebrow. "MI-6?"

Humming the James Bond theme jogged her memory and Casey watched her lips curl into a smile. "I'll bet it's a deep cover assignment to protect Gregory- he's some lost heir and your marriage is a facade to keep him out of danger." He adjusted his tie again taking the offered chair by the corner of her desk.

"You are your mother's son aren't you?" Olivia teased as she reached into the drawer of her desk. "You make my life sound so much more exciting then it is."

"Considering I had to go through the third degree just to be your assistant, I'd say your life is pretty exciting Mrs. Richards." Casey folded his hands in his lap, trying to look comfortable.

Her smile faded suddenly and Olivia looked away for a moment before forcing it back. "Gregory just increased security this week. It's been a little hectic for everyone."

"Why the upgrades?" He looked so honest as he studied her face. There was so much of Alex's good nature in his eyes.

Olivia swallowed, feeling slightly nauseous thinking about why Gregory was suddenly more overprotective then usual. "Someone broke into our house, on Saturday. He came into my room while I was sleeping."

Casey sat up quickly at attention. "Are you all right?"

She sighed, her shoulders slumping in exhaustion. "Yes- yes, I'm fine. Gregory and the police are just a little concerned."

"Was he looking for something in particular?"

"We don't know." Her half-smile wasn't at all convincing. "Gregory just likes to know I'm safe."

Casey watched Olivia retrieve her briefcase from the floor by her desk. As always, his mother was dead on in her character appraisals. Mrs. Richards was sweet, gentle but independent in a deceptive sort of way.

"Did Halloran give you a car?" She tucked her hands around the handle of her briefcase.

He nodded and pulled the keys from his pocket. "Yeah, but I haven't looked at it yet."

She reached for the keys, looking over brass keychain. "Gregory's old car. He was fond of it until he decided he wanted the convertible." Olivia took a conspiratorial tone as she handed back the keys. "Mid-life crisis."

Trying to picture Gregory Richards' mid-life crisis, Casey followed her to the elevator. "Where are we going?"

"KJSR." She tapped her fingers on the handle of her briefcase as the elevator started to move. "I have to do a call-in spot about the hospital project."

"Sounds like fun." Casey offered cheerfully. "I've always wanted to go behind the scenes at the radio station."

"Do your homework on the university and I'll let you do the next one." Her offer was genuine and Olivia found the surprise on his face amusing. "Radio's easy, you just put on the headphones and talk into the microphone. Trust me, you'll be brilliant in no time."

She led the way through the Liberty parking garage beneath the building, remembering exactly where Gregory kept the cars he liked. She didn't have the heart to tell Casey about the memories associated with the green Jaguar. He didn't need to know.

Gregory was waiting for them, leaning against the side of the car with a patient expression. "I see you remembered where to find it."

Her face lit up when she saw him. "Darling- I thought you were still on the phone."

Not even noticing Casey was there, Gregory wrapped his arms around her back. Resting his head on her shoulder, he breathed in the scent of her hair. "I decided to call them back."

Olivia nearly dropped her briefcase when he started kissing her. "Gregory-" She protested weakly as she pulled way. "You're being rude to my new assistant."

Without letting her go, he turned to Casey with an apologetic smile. "I didn't mean to be rude. I'm just having a little trouble saying goodbye to my wife. If you'd give us a moment-"

Casey covered his amusement very professionally. "You know, now that I think about it Mrs. Richards, I forgot my- uh- pen- in the security office. I'll just run in and get it."

"All right." Her briefcase hit the pavement with a soft thump as she wrapped her arms around Gregory's neck. "I'll just wait here..."

Running a finger over the collar of her shirt, Gregory made her breath catch in her throat. His touch was always electric. "Do you like him?"

Olivia nodded, closing her eyes as he ran his hands over her jacket, his thumbs catching just above her hips. "He's definitely Alex's son." Giggling softly as he slipped one hand beneath her jacket and stroked the skin of her back through her blouse. "Remind me to tell you about my life as a secret agent."

"Secret agent?" Gregory found the spot on her neck that sent chills racing up her spine with his lips. "Sounds exciting."

Leaning against him, she shuddered. "I don't know if I want anything else exciting."

"When Roger and the boys get home tonight, we'll have a nice quiet dinner and go to bed." Running his hand through her hair made his jaw clench when he thought about the missing curl. "A nice dull evening at home."

"Really dull?"

"Terribly dull." He agreed as he worried about the darkness in the circles beneath her eyes. "Even boring. So uneventful you won't even remember it."

He'd become so transparent with concern that she could read it in his face. "I'll see you for lunch darling."

"I know." Gregory replied and anticipated her next thought. "And I know you'll be all right until then."

"But- you haven't let me out of your sight since Sunday." She pointed out coyly. "At some point I have to spend some time on my own."

"I'm not sure if I'm ready for that."

Olivia stood on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek. "I'll be back in two hours. Casey will keep an eye on me."

"You just take care of yourself." He ordered as he fidgeted with her jacket. "You look tired."

"Well that's a lovely thing to say." She teased him, annoyed that he had noticed. "You look wonderful today too darling."

Casey tucked his pen into suit jacket and cleared his throat. "Sorry about that Mrs. Richards. I don't know how I could be so careless."

"It's perfectly all right Casey." Olivia assured him as Gregory bent down to pick up her briefcase. "Gregory was just going upstairs to call the construction company back. Now that he's done being over-protective."

Gregory gave her a patronizing look. "I'll see you for lunch." He brushed her cheek gently. "Have a good day."

"I'll try."

Olivia watched as Gregory paused to address Casey. "The green car was a excellent choice. She was good to me."

"Thanks." Casey answered sheepishly as Gregory continued walking away.

Walking the radio station with Olivia Richards was like walking down main street with the Mayor. People looked at her and respectfully looked away before continuing to watch her when they thought she had already passed them by. "Different when you're with the boss isn't it?" She whispered as they entered the studio.

Casey nodded, pretty excited to be meeting the hosts he listened to on the news every morning. Olivia looked up at the clock, "I'm going to be on for an hour. You can stay and watch, or get a tour of the station, whatever you like."

"I think I'd like to stay. If that's all right with the producer."

The producer nodded as she handed Olivia the headphones for the booth. "Sure, call-ins usually do pretty well this time of day. Should be fun." Casey pulled up a stool and watched as the board came online. The countdown next to on air sign lit up.

The producer pulled on her own set of headphones and counted down on her fingers for Olivia. "We're live on 'Talk of the Beach' with Olivia Richards, the new public face of the Liberty Corporation. We'll be taking your calls all hour if you have anything to ask-"

In his hotel room in Monte Carlo, Cole picked up the phone. He checked his watch and did the calculations for California time. 10:45am in Sunset Beach. The last quarter of Olivia's hour on-air. He waited for his call to bounce all the way to Sunset Beach.

The switchboard put him through-

"And we have time for one last caller. You're on KJSR with Olivia Richards-" The producer announced.

Cole smiled and pictured Olivia as he had last seen her. Her eyes bright with terror as his hands tightened on her throat. "Hello Olivia."

"You just made it. What's your question?" That same unfailing politeness that had made her dance with him at the charity ball was clear over the phone.

"I don't have a question." Cole paused, enjoying the tension in the silence. "I have a message for your husband."

The producer held up her hand to cut him off as a crank, but Olivia shook her head. She knew this voice from somewhere. She had to hear what he was going to say. "What's the message?"

"He's been taking too long to make his descision. He recieved a letter this morning. If the Deschanel jewels aren't where it asks by sunset tomorrow- You'll be dead."

"And he'll have no one to blame but himself."


	32. some first day

Cole would have enjoyed the chaos he created.

Alex tapped her foot impatiently as the three men fetched their luggage from the plane. "You'd think three men would have packed less."

Roger dropped his bag at her feet and picked her up, giddily spinning her around for a moment. "You are the most beautiful woman on either side of the Atlantic."

She allowed him to kiss her forehead, smiling indulgently. "I'm glad you've learned to appreciate me. Maybe I'll have to let you go away more often."

Dragging his stuff over with Ethan on his heels, Sean looked at the two adults expectantly. "Well this is it. All our stuff. Can we eat now?"

Ethan joined Sean's pouting. "Please? It's been bloody hours since we got to eat anything. We're wasting away." He tightened his shirt across his stomach. "Look at how thin I am. And Sean- he's just skin and bones."

Roger tossed his arm around Alex's shoulders. "All right let's feed them. Would burgers and fries at Elaine's be acceptable?"

Sean grinned and threw his bag over his shoulder. "Lead the way."

Elaine's was quiet. Before eleven wasn't usually her lunch time, but she made an exception for the two charming young men who attacked her with their most pitiable looks. "I'll be back with your burgers soon, onion rings and milkshakes should just take a second though." She headed to the kitchen and placed their order. When she came back with their milkshakes and coffee for Alex and Roger, Elaine turned up the radio.

"That's my mom!" Sean realized, taking a break from the pile of onion rings between him and Ethan.

"She's answering questions about the hospital today." Elaine explained with a proud smile. "Olivia sounds so informed, doesn't she?"

"The accent helps." Ethan explained as he ate the wafer out of his milkshake. "I get told all the time how intelligent I sound-"

Stealing the cherry from his son with an evil grin, Roger agreed. "That's why I went to med school in the colonies. Accent impressed everyone, barely had to study at all." Sean jumped in and it became a three way battle of wits, Roger invariably coming out on top.

Alex sipped her coffee with one hand, letting the other rest in Roger's lap. Olivia was explaining how medical students would interact with the community. Living in town, working, shopping- a valuable part of the fabric of the town. Their food arrived and Sean and Ethan attacked it like ravenous wolves. Olivia's hour on-air was winding down and the producer announced the last caller.

Roger set down his sandwich, putting all his attention on the radio. When Sean started to speak he hushed him firmly. "Listen."

Olivia still sounded polite. "What's the message?" Alex knew she would have been far less tactful in Olivia's position.

Cole's next comment brought complete silence to the waffle shop. Everyone was listening to the radio with morbid curiosity. "He's been taking too long to make his decision."

Elaine turned up the volume. "He received a letter this morning. If the Deschanel jewels aren't where it asks by sunset tomorrow- You'll be dead."

Alex's coffee cup slipped from her hand, bounced on the edge of the table and shattered on the floor as Cole concluded:

"-he'll have no one to blame but himself." Choking, Sean spit what he had been eating into his napkin. Sean and Alex both stood up, Ethan watched his father for a cue.

Roger opened his wallet, took out well over the estimated coast of the food and left it on the table as he stood up. "I think all our appetites are ruined now."

Alex was pale, her lips set in a thin line. "How could anyone-?"

"It just doesn't make sense." Ethan added quietly as he stepped aside to let Sean out of the booth. Sean's jaw muscles seemed ready to work their way free of his mouth.

Roger recognized Gregory's simmering anger in his son. "I know our first impulse is to rush over to the studio and make sure Olivia's all right-" Sean started headed for the car.

"But that's going to be the busiest place in Sunset Beach for the next few hours until this is sorted out." He caught Sean in the doorway. "We'll go down to the station; she'll have to come in to give her statement. Okay?"

Alex and Ethan nodded, Roger's solution was logical even if it didn't immediately make anyone feel any better. Sean shook his head, feeling like he had been instantly reduced to six-years-old again. "Why would anyone want to hurt my mom?"

Gregory had the radio on the entire hour. Knowing she wasn't just down the hallway was making him nervous, but listening to her voice almost made him fell better. He didn't pay much attention to the words; he knew the details of the project just as well as she did. He just liked to listen to her speak. The lilt of her voice when she was amused, the proper tone she took when she was explaining- he could have listened to her all day.

Gregory was finishing up his pro bono casework and trying to decide what he wanted for lunch when the words came back to assault his ears.

"I have a message for your husband." It was as if the devil himself had reached out of the radio to taunt him. The ball, their bedroom and now- Was nowhere sacred? He dropped his folder to his desk, praying it wasn't what he thought. The station would certainly cut off the crank and go to commercial.

But Olivia encouraged the caller. Gregory could picture her curiosity, the way she played with her tongue when she was thinking. He missed the next sentence when Emily opened the door to drop an envelope on his desk. Not bothering to acknowledge her, he took the envelope just as the mysterious caller mentioned it on air.

He was opening it with his finger when Cole crossed the unseen line.

"You'll be dead." The phrase echoed in his head, bouncing off the walls of his office, mocking him as the radio fell into white noise. His mental image of Olivia sitting quietly in silent radio booth turned horrible in a way he didn't even want to imagine. Gregory couldn't picture how she was going to die. Even his imagination was too horrified by that thought. Her unnaturally still, white face- her hands folded immobile over her chest- Olivia's blue eyes dim, fogged over with death-

His heart attempted to punch through his ribs. Without taking the time to read the letter, he jammed it into his pocket, grabbed his keys and ran out of the office.

The quiet studio became a hub of activity as soon as the producer flicked the on-air light off. She started copying the tape of the show. An assistant came in to announce he'd just called the police, who were on their way. Casey backed out of the way, retreating away from the equipment towards the soundproof booth. Olivia had her face in her hands, head down. She looked tiny inside her neat black suit, too small to be the center of so much attention.

Casey let himself in, walking up to her and putting a hand on her shoulder. "The police are coming. Gregory's secretary called and he's on his way as well." If she had been his mother she would have looked up at him and made a joke about increasing her life insurance.

Olivia looked up slowly, her face a porcelain mask. Her body was numb; the movements of her legs to get her to a standing position were taking place miles away from the rest of her. Casey's hand on her elbow steadied her. She had to say something to him; he was looking at her with such concern- "Gregory?"

"Should be here soon." Casey assured her with a calm he didn't feel. He had never seen anyone receive a death threat before. He didn't know what to say. How could he tell her it was going to be all right when even the police seemed stunned? "Do you need-?" Stupid question, he berated himself.

Olivia surprised him by reaching for his hand. Detaching his fingers from her elbow so she could hold onto them. Her hand was ice cold, like the ocean in winter. "Can we go outside? I'm feeling a bit claustrophobic."

"Sure." He replied, opening the door into the crowd of people who filled the tiny studio space. Thanking his stature, he pushed through them, getting Olivia through to the hallway. They could hear the sirens now, wailing in the distance as they grew steadily closer. The noise was almost comforting.

Olivia knew where she was going. Casey didn't ask. He just followed one step behind, wishing her hand would warm up. Shoving open the security door activated the alarm. It joined the growing cacophony of sound around them.

The roof was gravel, wide and flat. The flashing red and blue lights of the squad cars danced over the surrounding walls. "Everyone's going to be looking for you." Casey pointed out as Olivia dropped his hand and retreated to the wall, sinking down and hugging her knees to her chest.

She pointed to the doorway. "They can follow the alarm. I just can't- it's suffocating in there." Olivia tried to control her breathing, slow the racing of her heart. She should have recognized the voice as soon as he came on the air. It was the voice from the ball that had made her chest tight. She closed her eyes against the sunshine, but that just let the face from her bedroom in to mock her. The hands on her throat- the sick satisfaction in the eyes that bored into her.

The first sensation to return to her body was nausea. She lowered her forehead to her knees, immediately missing the numbness.

Casey stood in the doorway, putting his hands in his pockets and watching as the uniformed police officers came towards them. Paula Stevens was point, weapon drawn. "Where's Mrs. Richards?"

"She's here." Casey replied softly. "She's all right." He put his hand on her gun, dropping his voice to a whisper. "Pretty badly shaken up."

Paula holstered her weapon grimly. "I don't blame her. This is the third threat in the last two weeks, these incidents just keep escalating. It's only a matter of time before-"

Gregory's angry demand echoed through the hallway, rattling the entire building. "Where is my wife!"

Paula picked up her walkie-talkie, "Subject is just outside the roof door on second floor, west side." Inclining her head, the other two officers took up positions flanking Olivia at the wall, looking around for a moment and nodding. "Area is secure."

Ricardo's voice clicked back. "I'm escorting up her husband. Don't leave that area."

"Roger." Clipping the radio to her belt, Paula pulled out her notebook. "What are you doing here Casey?"

"Me?" It took him a moment to realize what she was asking. "Mr. Richards hired me to be her assistant." He loosed his tie sheepishly. "It's my first day."

Patting his shoulder sympathetically, Paula's eyes widened. "Some first day."

"Yeah, I'd say so-" Casey stopped speaking beofre he finished his thought when Gregory and Ricardo appeared down the hallway. Gregory breaking into a run as he saw Casey, desperation naked on his face. He pushed past them both, looking around for a moment frantically in the doorway until he found her. He dropped to his knees in the stones, lifting up Olivia's head to look at her.

Gregory didn't have to say anything. Everything in his heart was bare on his face. Olivia's fingers caught the collar of his jacket, tightening in the fabric. Her face remained impassive for one last moment and then crumbled from within. First her lip quivered, then her chin, the tears were in her eyes as the first sob fought free of her throat. Gregory pulled her away from the wall, crushing her to his chest. Rocking back and forth in the indifferent sunshine.

Casey realized why Olivia been so quiet. She had been waiting. The two officers looked stoically away as Olivia's sobbing continued. Detective Torres turned to Casey, his expression grim and troubled. "Forensics is downstairs; trying to trace the phone call- looks like it was scrambled. Bounced around the system so much we'll never figure out where it came from."

"Damn." Paula folded her arms on her chest. "Do we know anything about the letter?"

Ricardo pulled it out of his jacket. "Gregory gave it to me. It arrived just before he left the office. He hasn't read it." Knowing the lab would have to ignore his fingerprints anyway, he opened the envelope. Like the last note this one was handwritten in block letters. A small key was taped on the bottom, marked C3 with nail polish.

Failure to comply will result in the immediate and painful death of Olivia Richards. Put the jewels in an unmarked duffel bag. You alone will place it in E-Z storage locker number C3. The locker will be monitored. You have until 8:22pm Friday, one minute more will be considered failure. Any police presence will result in her death.

Ricardo reread the note, his lips forming the words as he tried to think about the kind of man who wrote it. Paula titled her head, mildly confused.

"8:22pm is pretty specific."

"That's exactly sunset tomorrow." Casey pointed out, shrugging as Ricardo looked at him in surprise. "We keep track on the board at the lifeguard station."

"Romantic." Ricardo bleakly replied.


	33. protective custody

Cole set the small packet of loose gemstones on the counter in the seedy backroom. He tapped his fingers impatiently as the dealer counted them out. "Looks in order, just what we talked about on the phone. Do you need papers? That'll run you a bit more if you do."

Cole shook his head as Caitlin slipped her hand into the back pocket of his jeans. "No, I don't need to be formal about it." Caitlin had changed in their week in Monte Carlo. She had blossomed. Gone were the prep-school outfits of neat pastels, that had been the first thing to go once Monique had a hold of her. Now she was dark, hair shorter, sleeker instead of blown out.

Monique had replaced her entire wardrobe, redid her hair, changed her makeup. Innocence was as gone from Caitlin's appearance as it was from her body. She leaned on the counter as Cole had taught her. Giving the dealer something to look at as he shuffled with his paperwork.

She reached for the muzzle of the gun as the dealer set it on counter between them. Caressing it lightly as the dealer ran through the specifications. "Sig Sauer SG550, Swiss made, one of the best in the business. 13.6 lbs with scope, double pull trigger, fully adjustable stock, optional detachable laser sight. Comes apart in five places, fits in a standard instrument case. Case will run you fifty dollars if you don't have your own."

Cole slapped down forty, and the dealer took it, handing up a battered violin case. "Now, you paid for shipping stateside, this beauty will be waiting for you by the time your plane lands in California."

"Can I hold it?" Caitlin asked, by the look of the weapon. Cole nodded as he turned to look at ammunition. She picked it up, the dealer showing her how to hold it, placing her hands in the trigger.

"Now, put your eye up to the sight, just like that. Use your left hand to turn on the laser. Track it up your target, look into their eyes." The rifle was power, she could feel that just by holding it. Caitlin pointed the laser to the wall, watching the tiny red dot move up towards the ceiling. She closed her eyes for a moment, picturing Cole running it up her mother's body. Daddy would want her again. Daddy would need her once her mother was-

The trigger clicked, the magazine was empty. "This is beautiful." She set it back on the counter reverently. She returned her hands to Cole's arm, he tolerated her touch with a smile.

"You'll see it in action tomorrow." He promised. "You'll be across the street, watching, just like we planned."

Caitlin nearly purred in excitement. "Wonderful."

Alex left the bench at the police station to get a glass of water. Roger hopped up to follow her, catching her sleeve as she reached for the faucet in the break room. He slipped her sleeve up to her elbow, revealing the dark purple needle tracts. "When did you start dialysis?"

Alex filled her cup and looked down at her own arm with a mixture of disgust and pity. "Monday. Dr. Wallace thought it might slow my liver degradation, but apparently my 'parenchymal metastasis' is too far advanced."

Roger's smile took on a sad note. "How long did it take you to be able to say that?"

Smiling back around the rim of her cup, Alex winked. "Hours of practice."

"Do you know what it means?" He questioned gently, resting his hand on her cheek.

"It means I've got a week to get everything in order." Her smile became bittersweet and she trouble keeping her eyes steady with his. "Did you ask Lillian to fly in for me?"

"The honorable Lillian will be here on Saturday." Roger hugged her, wishing he had more time. "She's keeping the visit quiet, just like you asked. The kid knows, but he'll keep it to himself if I ask him to."

"I just can't ask Gregory to do it, not right now."

Roger took the cup from her hand and swirled it thoughtfully for a moment. "You know Alex, a point is coming where right now is all you have left." He poured the water into the sink symbolically, watching it disappear into the drain. "Do you have what you want?"

"Right now?" She set the cup back next to the sink, upside down to dry. "My boy's happy, he's in at Liberty now, so it won't be too much of a shock for him to assume my board member responsibilities."

"Which is good." Roger reminded her as he traced her chin thoughtfully. "You'd hate to suddenly make him rich when he's never had any experience with money."

Alex kissed his fingers, settling comfortably into his arms. "And he's got a good stable woman now. He has Heather, who's brilliant and funny."

"And a doctor." Roger pretended to nibble her hair. "Even if its of kelp and sea turtles."

"Marine Biologist, not a kelp doctor." she corrected laughing. "He's going to be happy, isn't he? Grow up, have a good life, have a family."

"More family then he knows what do with I think. So many people are going to miss you-" Trailing off for a moment, he perked up when Alex kissed his hand again. "He's never going to lack anywhere to go for Christmas. If that's what you're worried about."

"Sometimes." She ran her fingers up and down his arms, grateful for the confidant. "Being an only child gets a bit lonely when your mother runs out on you."

Spinning her around to look in her eyes, Roger lifted her chin firmly. "You're not running out. You've set him up with everything he needs to have a good life. You may be bowing out a little earlier then everyone-" His green eyes were unnaturally bright suddenly. "Including me, would like."

Coyly rearranging the collar of his polo shirt, Alex pursed her lips thoughtfully. "I thought you liked the whirlwind fling just as much as I do."

"Maybe I'd like to have you around longer-"

Alex reached up to brush a tear out of his eyelashes and muss his silver curls. "You'd be worth sticking around for."

Ethan had grown used to the many women who fell for his father. Roger was free with his charm and affection. He was starting to feel Alex was just another harmless fling, someone to wine and dine with. Then he walked into the break room at the station, hanging back he was able to overhear the entire conversation. From parencymal metastasis to the way his father dropped into that soft tone of voice he only used with those he loved.

Roger being in love was wonderful, his father deserved it. Even his mother thought so. Alex's secret was the sucker-punch opposite of wonderful. Her liver was failing. That meant the end stages ot cancer. If Lillian was flying in to arrange Alex's estate the curtains were coming down for her soon. He would have to confront his father about it, first chance he got.

Ethan flopped down on the bench next to Sean, unsure what he wanted to do. Sean was a mess at the moment, his mother was being publicly threatened. The last thing he needed was another dose of bad news. He had to find something cheerful to talk about.

He put his hand on Sean's shoulder. "So, when school starts up you think you'll live at the manor then?"

"What?" It took Sean a moment to collect his thoughts. "Yeah, I guess, if that's all right with your mom."

"Mum? She's a pushover. Don't let that fancy barrister bit fool you, she's a sucker for charming young men." Ethan pointing to Roger and Alex, who were emerging from the break room with their arms wrapped around each other. "How do you think dad landed her?"

Sean managed a small smile and encouraged by it, Ethan continued- "We'll have fun, train the hounds, teach you polo, dodge the ghosts, bring your parents up for Christmas, learn cricket, clean the gargoyles- loads of excitement."

Casey found driving with one police car on either side of his car more then a little unnerving. The flashing bars of light behind and in front of his car made him feel like he should pull over and let them go past. Ricardo sat in the passenger seat, hand on his weapon. Neither of them spoke. Casey wasn't sure what to say. He hadn't been inside a protective detail before. He checked the rearview mirror again nervously.

Ricardo chuckled softly. "I promise they're still there."

"Actually-" Casey tilted his head towards the backseat. "I was worried about Mrs. Richards. She's not looking too good."

Ricardo checked subtly in the mirror. Olivia had her head in her husband's lap, as she had most of the trip to the police station. Now her eyes were closed, her face was a greener shade of pale. Gregory's right hand rested on her head. His left held his sodden handkerchief, protectively curled over her stomach. Ricardo watched her throat move as she swallowed. Gregory met his eyes in the mirror, he obviously had the same concerns. It was hard to keep up his dislike for the man when he was with his wife. Mr. Richards was human whenever Olivia was around.

Olivia sat up suddenly, putting her hand over her mouth. Gregory put his arm around her shoulders and slid her acorss the seat towards the door. "Pull over."

Ricardo radioed the other cars. "We're stopping."

Casey immediately obliged, watching as both squad cars follow suit. She fumbled with the door handle until Gregory assisted her. He was one step behind her as she fled from the car. Olivia made it past the shoulder of the highway, dropping to her knees when she hit the grass. Illuminated in the lights of the two squad cars, she vomited into the ditch. Struggling to against the rebellion of her diaphram, Olivia kept her death grip on one of Gregory's hands.

The officers fanned out around her, forming a half circle between the cars and the line of the trees. Casey hung back by the car with Ricardo, desperately wishing there was something he could do. He hated to watch anyone suffer needlessly and nothing about this situation struck him as fair in the least.

Olivia was sobbing again, Gregory didn't have anything to say to comfort her. He was there next to her in the muddy grass as she finished throwing up and tried to regain her breath. "It's going to be all right." He assured her finally, when he knew she could hear him. He took his handkerchief to the mud she had smeared on her face in her panic. "No one's going to let him near you."

"Gregory- I-" His name was everything, at once plea and prayer. Olivia shook her head, throwing her hand desperately over her mouth, as if that could keep her from continuing to throw up. She failed, dropping her hand and turning away from him. She pressed his hand into the ground with her own. Straining his arm as her stomach heaved up the last of its' contents. The heaving of her stomach became coughing, the horrible pointless choking that overrode the instinct to breath.

Gregory finally had to slap her face, surprising her enough to force her to gasp and breathe in. "Olivia look at me."

"Breathe." He wiped her lips, holding her so she had to look at him. One of the officers, Ruiz tapped him on the shoulder with his water bottle. Taking it gratefully he filled his cupped hand, letting her drink slowly. "Just look at me."

Gregory rinsed out his handkerchief with his free hand. Waiting for her to spit the water out before he tried to get her to drink anymore. "I know you're in there somewhere sweetheart. Focus on me. I'm right here."

Olivia pulled herself together somewhat and put her hands on his chest, not even noticing the mud she left on his jacket. "I want to go home."

"We will." He leaned forward, nearly close enough to kiss her. "I promise as soon as this is over we'll go home. We'll hide up in our bedroom and make Rose bring us breakfast in bed."

She moved her hands up to his shoulders, trying to put her feet beneath her. "You promise?"

Gregory smiled as he started to stand up. "You can have anything you want. We'll take a whole week off."

Olicia stumbled slightly and there were hands all around her to catch her. Casey helped Gregory lead her back to the car, deeply touched when she managed to smile weakly in thanks. Still too nauseous to look out of the window once the car started moving, Olivia closed her eyes and curled up on the seat with her head back in Gregory's lap. "Anything?" She asked finally, surprising him out of his thoughts.

"Anything." Gregory agreed gently, relieved that she was following the conversation. "Anything at all."


	34. take me away

"Mom!" Sean ran for her, hugging her desperately, not even noticing that he was sharing the embrace with his father. "Mom, we've been so worried about you. Everyone's been so worried about you. Roger, Alex, Bette, Ethan- everyone's here. We've just been waiting for you to get back."

Olivia let go of Gregory to hug her son again, almost smiling in relief. "Oh darling. I'm all right. They've taken good care of me, your father and the detectives."

"Hey Livie, no scaring us like that." Bette attacked her next, her hands shaking as she wrapped them around Olivia. "I think I'm going to have to dye my hair just to get all the gray out."

"Because there was never any there before." Olivia prodded lightly.

Roger and Alex joined the crowd, still hand in hand. "Did you hear that? She just made a joke." He teased, learning in to kiss her cheek.

"Must be doing all right then." Alex added as she squeezed Olivia's hand.

"Still look like hell." Bette pointed out bluntly. "Danger doesn't do much for the complexion does it dearie?"

Ricardo broke through the knot of people and tried to look stern. "I need Mr. and Mrs. Richards for few minutes, then you can have them back."

Gregory led Olivia through her family, keeping his face neutral, but his relief was obvious in his eyes. Ricardo opened the door and ushered Olivia in. Sean snuck through to catch his dad's arm.

He looked at the floor, chewing his lip in a way remarkably similar to his mother. "Dad, I know we haven't- I mean- you know."

Gregory clasped his son's shoulder, deeply touched by the attempt. "I know and I'm sorry it's been that way between us."

"No." Sean said softly as he lifted his head. "I'm sorry. It's just-" He broke off, shaking his head. "It shouldn't be this hard to say."

"You don't have to say anything son." Gregory was nearly whispering, hoping the sting in his eyes wasn't obvious to anyone else.

"I do!" Sean inisted in a hiss. "I'm- glad you were with mom. She feels better when you're there."

Reaching for his son's hand, they attempted an awkward handshake. "I don't think I could be anywhere else." They held hands for a long second, staring at each other.

"Mr. Richards?" One of the officers interrupted quietly. "We need you now."

Gregory's weak look of annoyance made Sean smile. "I'll be right there." He turned back to his son, studying the man who had taken the place of the boy he knew. "Thanks."

Ricardo waited for Gregory to sit down and nodded for Ruiz to shut the door. "All right. The way I see it we have a few options-"

hr

The cab dropped her off in front of her house. Caitlin went around the back and collected her luggage from the trunk as she paid the driver. Her house was lit up brightly for this time of night and the driveway was full of cars. Including a black and white police cruiser. Cole was dead on, so far he had predicted every response perfectly. She pulled the handle up on her luggage and treked up to the door.

She ran the bell and jumped when a uniformed officer opened the door. "Can I help you?"

Caitlin laughed nervously and gave him an naive smile. "I live here."

Roger appeared behind the officer and nodded. "Aye, she does live her. Welcome home Catey."

Ruiz opened the door and let her inside. Roger took her suitcase and left it by the stairs. Alex, Bette, Sean and Eathn were sprawled out in the living room. All of them were various states of exhaustion. Sean and Ethan actually had a fire going in the fireplace. Alex and Bette had hot chocolate and were arguing about the proper amount of marshmallows.

"We needed some comfort food." Roger explained as he followed her to the hall closet. "It's been a long day."

Caitlin hung up her jacket and cleared her face, putting on an innocent expression. "What happened?"

"You didn't hear?" Bette's voice carried across the room in shock. "I thought everyone heard."

"No, I've been in Paris." Caitlin shrugged and headed for the floor by Sean and Ethan. "My friends from school and I all went for makeovers, as a reward for finishing our summer classes."

Alex and Roger shared a long look that went unnoticed by the young woman. However, Bette was cheerful. "That explains the haircut. Looks good beauty."

Ethan peered up from his marshmallow making. "The outfit's a bit dark for summer though isn't it?"

"Not in Europe." Caitlin replied defensively, trying to decide if Ethan and Sean were actually making smores in the fireplace. "It's the latest from Paris."

Sean answered her question as he blew his flaming marshmallow out and stuffed it between his crackers. "Want one?"

"You're not actually cooking those in the fireplace?" Caitlin stood up to look disapprovingly over the mess they were making of crumbs and chocolate wrappers. "Dad's going to freak out."

Ethan watched his marshmallow turn slowly to golden brown and waved off her concern. "Gregory was already down here. He did one and shared it with your mom."

"He helped Ethan get his technique down." Bette pointed out as Roger snuggled into the couch with Alex. "Turns out they don't have smores in Manchester."

"They don't have smores in the whole country." Ethan explained as he licked off sticky fingers. "Purely a colonial thing-" Sean handed him another chunk of chocolate and showed him how to arrange his crackers. "But I'm getting pretty fond of it."

Caitlin was dumbstruck. Comfort food? Cole's brilliant plan was supposed to be succeding and her brother was camped out on the floor with comfort food. Everyone seemed so relaxed and speaking of her father, where was he? "Where's daddy now? I'd like to say hi and tell him I'm back."

That brought immediate silence. Bette and Alex both looked like they were about to speak, but they differed to Roger. He was fishing a marshmallow out of Alex's hot chocolate, but she pulled the cup away and pointed at Caitlin. As Alex reminded him to speak, Roger turned serious. "He's in San Francisco with your mother. Protective custody."

"Protective custody?" She repeatedly dumbly, waiting for them to explain to her what was going on. Cole was going to be so annoyed. Protective custody wasn't like her father at all. It was giving up. Giving in- what had Olivia done to him? When he had become weak like her?

hr

Ricardo pulled his car up to the marina and shut off the lights. "You're sure this is what you want to do?"

Gregory was already climbing out of the backseat. "I promised." Olivia smiled shyly at her husband and Paula shrugged, silently agreeing not to ask as she got out of the car.

"The marina's closed for the night." Ricardo continued. "How are you going to get your boat out?"

Grinning mischeviously, Gregory took Olivia's hand and started up the dock. "I don't know I should be telling a police officer."

Paula started laughing, leaning back against the hood of Ricardo's unmarked car. "He's going to steal his own boat." She whispered when he looked at her with a puzzled expression. "Maria used to do it all the time, remember?"

The only thing they had with them was one backpack over Gregory's shoulder. Their luggage would arrive at the safehouse in San Francisco without them. Keeping up the appearance of their presence, just as Ricardo had suggested.

Olivia rested her elbows on the railing at looked down at the elegant sailboat. "It's not really stealing is it darling?"

Gregory hopped lightly over to the deck and extended his hand back to guide her. "Of course not. It's ours. We're just taking it without telling anyone that we've got it."

She stepped across, letting him hold her for a moment. Hearing only the quiet lapping of the water beneath the boat.

Gregory tucked her hair back behind her ear with infinite gentleness. "This is what you asked for."

Laughing softly, she headed for the rope in the stern. "I believe all I said was 'take me away'. "

"What's more away then the ocean?" Gregory's hand closed over hers on the rope. "We're going to be so far out to sea, not even that bastard will be able to find us."

She looked up at the stars, wishing she could be as confidant as they were. As steady as Gregory was. "I hope so."

Gregory undid the rope and dropped it to the deck, pulling her close enough to feel her breath against his cheek. "Just you, me and the ocean. We don't even have to come back at all if you don't want to."

Kissing him added to the feeling of youthful rebellion, as if they were running away from time as well. Olivia slipped out of his arms, heading for the next rope with a smile. "Just you will do wonderfully darling. You're all I want."


	35. Mo Chuishle

The lights of Sunset Beach faded into the horizon, becoming no brighter then a distant memory. Gregory fussed with the map for a few minutes, and then satisfied he hopped up to the wheel of the boat and showed her his heading. "North seems more logical this time of year, so we're headed south."

He set down the map in front of her at the wheel and ran his hand up her neck slowly. Sighing as she leaned into his touch, Olivia looked up at the stars again, searching for the moon. "South it is then."

Gregory favored her shoulder with strong fingers. "You're okay up here?"

"Of course." Olivia promised, finding it much easier to smile her then had been on land. "But what are you going to do?"

He dropped down to the deck. Calling up to her as he disappeared into the cabin. "Make dinner."

"Make dinner?" She repeated to herself, unable to keep from laughing. "What would your firm say?"

The night didn't answer. The ocean whispered something but it was addressed to the stars instead of her. Olivia moved her fingers thoughtfully over the red maple wheel of the boat. Their boat, their refuge from the world. The one place they didn't fight and that must have been why they hadn't taken it out together in so many years.

The wheel was still warm, like she remembered it. It was the kind of wood that absorbed emotions, took memories and kept them at her fingertips. She slid her hands over the wheel, looking for the little gold plate that held Gregory's promise engraved into the metal.

"A chuisle mo chroí." The metal reminded her. Her father's favorite phrase of old Gaelic. Her father, Thomas the poet, would have loved seeing it on the sailboat. He would have loved Gregory, at least the private side of him. Thomas Blake seemed almost present again on the boat. As if he could chide her for not visiting more often, the wind ran cold through her hair for a moment.

"I'm sorry dad, I guess I don't talk to you as much as you'd like, do I?" Olivia paused, trying to call her father's face into her memory. It had been so many years since she'd seen him. "What am I doing? - How am I is the better question." Shaking off the last bit of foolishness she felt talking to the ocean, Olivia smiled gently.

"Now, I'm happy. It's a little blissful moment stolen between the threats on my life, but I'm happy. And you shouldn't worry about me. You know how little it takes for me to be content. You taught me that, to hold on to every little thing that makes me smile." She checked the compass and adjusted the heading accordingly, listened to the sails hum in the soft wind.

"Gregory's been good to me." The waves smacked the bow of the boat, growing louder as the wind picked up. "I know I don't always have the nicest things to say about him, but you should believe me now. He's been so good to me. He reminds me of my own strength, shows me how to find myself and holds me when I can't."

For nearly an hour she talked to him, unburdening everything she had been holding on to. Telling Thomas about Gregory's father and how terrible he was, how Gregory scared her sometimes until he stopped himself. "It's like his father's still in there somewhere buried inside of him. And I don't know what do dad, I just watch. I wait for the ice to leave his eyes. He can be so sweet sometimes."

She blushed, caressing the curve of the wheel. "When he looks at me I understand those poems you liked to read to me when I was a girl. All those words about love and destiny weren't real to me until I met him. Gregory's just-"

Olivia bit her lip, trying to find what she wanted to tell her father. Gregory stopped her musings was he climbed up behind her. "Finished dinner."

He laughed when she jumped, dropping strong hands to her shoulders. "Talking to yourself?"

Olivia reached for his hand and smelled it, trying to decipher from the scent what he'd made for dinner. "Talking to my dad. I feel like he can hear me on the boat."

He brushed his fingers across her lips, spiking her curiosity about dinner even more. "I'm sure he can always hear you Liv. Come on, I've got dinner all set downstairs."

She set the wheel, locking the boat on her course. "It's sweet of you to cook for me."

"I love cooking for you." Gregory explained softly as he shut the upper door. "I just haven't-"

"In years!" Olivia teased as he pulled out the chair to the little table in the cabin and sat her down. "Years and years." Still shaking her head, she let him close her eyes as he set dinner in front of her. "Why did you stop?"

Gregory removed her hand from her eyes and let her examine his offering. Thin strips of chicken arranged in a fan over white rice, sautéed vegetables in bright shades of yellow and green. He ignored her question, turning back to the little gas stove in the kitchen to prepare his own plate. "See if you can guess what it is."

Olivia waited for him to sit down to try her dinner. "You must have given Rose a very complete list."

"I had a few requests." He replied cryptically as he settled "I tried to think of things you'd like."

"Ginger." She guessed around the first bite, smiling.

Gregory nodded, pleased as he mixed all of his food together in a pile on his plate. "Ginger, cloves, garam masala and tumeric." He explained around mouthfuls. "Rose keeps the spices stocked."

Olivia paused, looking up to catch him watching her eat. "I like it."

"I thought you would." Getting up, he dumped the rest of the vegetables on his plate along with the rice. "Do you want more chicken?"

Thinking of the food he had already gone through in the time it had taken her to decide she liked the vegetables, Olivia started laughing. "How hungry are you?"

He took that as a no and added the remaining chicken to his plate. "Starved. While I was cooking I realized I hadn't eaten anything since this morning. I'm going to start looking at your dinner if you don't finish it soon."

Toying with a piece of zucchini she stopped pushing it around her plate and pulled her plate closer to her. "I might be slower then you, but I'm still eating it."

"Feeling better?" He asked softly after a silence filled only with soft whir of the propane lantern over the table and the quiet scrape of silver against their plates.

Surprised by the question, she looked up from the neat shapes she was making with her rice. "I don't know what you mean."

Dropping his empty plate into the sink behind him, Gregory rested his arms on the table and watched her play with her food. "You were pretty miserable this afternoon."

"Someone threatened to kill me-" Olivia didn't meet his eyes. She never could when she was lying. Instead, she covered fear with defiance. "I think I had a right to be upset."

"I'm not disputing that Liv." He kept his voice neutral, low and calm. "I was just concerned."

"I'm fine Gregory." She dropped her fork to the table angrily, eyes starting to glint. "You don't need to patronize me."

Though he tried to hide it, his involuntary smile only served to further infuriate her. In an effort to make peace, he stood up. "I'm going to go drop the sails, case it rains."

Olivia glared after her for a moment. Closing her eyes, she decided he was just worrying, as he always did. Letting her breath out through her nose, she opened her eyes again. "Do you want me to help?"

He turned around on the ladder, looked at the rice still on her plate and shook his head firmly. "You finish your dinner. I'll be right back." Gregory climbed out onto the deck, immediately noticing his suspicions of rain were correct. The sky had clouded over completely and the water had passed beyond playful. The waves chattered against the hull, anxious for arrival of the rain. He detached the rope from the main sail, letting it fall and curl around the low beam. The wind had picked up too, blowing in cold from the open ocean to the west.

The rain started just as he finished the foresail. Thankful for that bit of good fortune, Gregory still relieved to duck below deck out of the building downpour. While he was above Olivia had finally finished eating, and been thoughtfully enough to take care of the dishes. All of the sat drying in the rack by the sink. The lantern about the table was still there, but had been turned down a few notches. He shut it off slowly. Letting his eyes adjust to the darkness a little at a time. There was another light in the bedroom.

He navigated the darkness with practiced ease. Sliding the chairs back out of the way as he headed for the door to the bedroom. Olivia had the lantern on above the bed; she was in the small closet tucked in the bulkhead. Clothes, mostly his old ones saved for fishing, were tossed all over the bed.

"What are you doing?" He asked finally, picking up an old maroon Sanford Law sweatshirt.

"Looking for any of these clothes that might be mine." Olivia sighed heavily when she reached the back of the closet without finding anything. "Tell me again why we couldn't keep our luggage?"

Gregory started picking up clothes, folding sweatshirts and old pants. All of them softened by saltwater and age. "Because, Ricardo wants it to look like we're in San Francisco. Anyone watching him and Paula will see our things get dropped off there. They'll assume they brought us in underground."

"Couldn't I have packed more clothes?" She sat on the bed, pouting as she looked over the mud on her clothes from the ditch that morning. "I'm not going to be able to wear this at all. Look at it, it's messy."

Gregory had to admit he probably didn't look much better. He undid the collar of shirt, flew down the buttons and dumped it in a heap on the floor. Choosing a t-shirt from the pile of clothes he was replacing in the closet, he pulled it over his head. Once it had been black, something from a debate contest, now it was graying.

"You can wear my clothes." He offered gently. Dropping his pants to the heap with his shirt as he dug out a much abused pair of flannel pants. "It's just a week. No one's going to see you."

Olivia sighed, looking rather pathetic as she fidgeted with the wrist of her jacket. "I guess you're right."

He looked over the selection and picked out his Sanford class of '74 t-shirt. "I'll help you change if you like."

"I can dress myself." She replied defensively, but smiled apologetically as Gregory lifted the shirt as a peace offering. "Okay."

"That's the spirit kiddo." He lifted her jacket, pulling it gently free from her shoulders. She was right to be frustrated with her clothes. The blouse beneath her jacket was muddy too, and a little damp with nervous perspiration. She let him remove it, closing her eyes against the warm light of the lantern.

"You can hear the rain." Keeping her eyes closed as his fingers freed her from her blouse, Olivia listened as the gentle pattering rose in intensity, becoming a choir of droplets. "What did the sky look like?"

"Black." Gregory replied simply as he lifted her wrist to undo the cuff. "The kind of darkness that absorbs all the light."

Her lips curled upwards slowly. "It must be beautiful." He stripped her blouse from her shoulders, lifting her arms one at a time to free them.

"It is, in that awe-inspiring way of thunderstorms." Gregory agreed as he started to pull her camisole up over her breasts. He pressed a little hard, and she opened her eyes suddenly, catching both of his hands.

"That hurt."

Gregory's face softened immediately in apology. "I'll be more careful."

Olivia reached for him, resting her fingers on his forearm as her eyes slipped closed again. "They're sore today."

Careful to barely touch her, he lifted the white fabric up past the swollen curves of her breasts. After he pulled it free of her head, he kissed her cheek, slipping his hand around her back to release the clasp of her bra. Studying her nude breasts for a moment, Gregory remembered the last time she had complained of them aching. Sean was a lazy nurser, continually falling asleep before the pressure was alleviated. Running the straps down her arms, he freed her from her bra and dropped it to the floor with the rest of her clothes. Opening the neck of his t-shit with his hands, he dropped it carefully over her head.

"Now if you stand up for just a moment, I'll get you out of your pants."

Olivia giggled as she stood up. "That's always been your goal isn't it?"

He undid the internal and external buttons and eased them off her hips. Black panties, simple, unadorned by lace or designs. After all, wasn't she beyond trying to impress him? Allowing her to sit back on the bed, he turned the legs inside out getting them over her ankles, giving her something else to giggle about. Her knees were slightly dirty; mud had bled through from the wet grass. He brushed them trying to get them clean and forgetting all about how ticklish she was.

Olivia squirmed away, knocking him off the bed. Desperate to free her knees from his fingers. Laughing so hard she was gasping for breath, "Don't do that!"

Gregory stood up slowly, smiling down at her. Laughter brought a blush to her cheeks, a rosy note of warmth he missed when absent. "I forgot."

She sat up, folding her knees beneath her and using his arm to pull him down to the bed. "You used that excuse last time."

Tracing a hand down the bare skin of her thigh was almost as much fun as her knees. "I was just trying to get the mud off. But it can wait until you shower." He reached up for the lantern, turning it down to a faint golden spot of color. "Ready for bed?"

"I'm in bed." That throaty purr was in her tone; her hand flitted across his chest like a bird. "And I think I'm ready."

He advanced on her, just enough to push her back onto the pillows. "You don't have to be." His right hand went unconsciously to her stomach, wondering if his plotting had come to fruition after all.

Olivia scoffed playfully urging him closer. "I have to do something or get under the covers. I'm starting to get cold."

Gregory reached around her for the top edge of the blankets and pulled, her feet tumbled free from beneath her and he caught her legs, tucking them under the covers. He moved up again, snuggling up to her body with the blankets between them. "Olivia, you don't have to for me-"

Her eyebrows fluttered for a moment. She ran her hand through his hair, feeling the moisture from the rain falling all around them. The boat swayed gently in the swell, riding up and down. "Maybe it's not for you."

She patted the pillows next to her and he crawled under the blankets, wrapping his arm around her chest. Feeling both the softness of her stomach and fullness of her breasts with his arm. Watching the dark shadows move up and down the wall of the boat as the swell moved them. "I'm exhausted and I'm not ashamed to tell you I'm frightened. The only way I could be safe was to run away with you to the empty ocean in the middle of nowhere."

Gregory ran his hand over her stomach, both to reassure her and to further his own suspicions. Her body was different. Even in the week since she had been ill, there were subtle changes, as if she were ripening before his eyes. "You are safe."

He could feel the air rush from her chest as she sighed happily. "I'm safe with you. Maybe I want to feel how 'safe' I am?"

Her suggestive tone made him chuckle just under his breath. "I'm here for you Liv." He validated again. "You're my reason."

Olivia folded her arms over his, squeezing him against her chest. He heard the wince in her throat. Her breasts must have been terribly tender. "I love you." She rolled in his arms, turning to face him with that childlike expression that melted his heart every time she used it. "God, do I love you."

Leaning towards him, she closed her eyes, letting him find her lips. He could still taste the ginger in her mouth as he wandered the familiar territory. Gregory took sweet time with kissing her. Finding the sensitive places just under the edges of her mouth. The prelude to a moan as they parted was his reward. She knew he loved her, Olivia must have seen it because her face was relaxed, peaceful as he reached for the hem of her shirt resting on her hip.

Gregory owed her. The horrible morning at the studio, the miserable car ride back to the police station- not once had she complained. She hadn't made the logical jump that it was his fault, nor looked at him to accuse him of failing to protect her. "I love you too." He admitted it so rarely that those little words had a great burden of emotion to carry to her heart. Stroking the upraised curve of her hip, Gregory watched the pupils grow huge in her eyes. The circle of blue disappearing behind the black.

Her hands were on him, settling into his back as she pulled him closer. Gently, taking the speed of a contented man, he pushed her to her back, insinuating his legs between hers. "Should I tell you more often?" Gregory wondered as her eyes grew to fill his vision.

"You tell me every day." Olivia whispered back, trying to calm the quiver of her voice. She spread her legs, inviting him to continue his progress as his hands traveled up from just above her knees. His fingers rested a moment on the thin black fabric of her panties, testing her reaction. She arched her head back, surprising him as her body went flush with his. He removed her panties, letting them disappear into the sheets by their feet.

His flannel pants were next. The knot in the tired drawstring nearly fell apart at her touch, Gregory did the rest as he pulled free, resting his right hand in the hollow between her breasts. Even featherweight pressure raced through her nerves as he ventured across the sensitive territory. The old cotton slung to her skin as sweat began to seep through her skin.

Olivia needed to take his shirt off, she wanted the soft friction of the hair on his chest. As she reached down to it, he anticipated he wishes and pulled it free from his head. Smiling as he devoured her neck. Her anxious moan in response surprised even her. Her body was desperate for him already and he was taking the time to make every movement count. Even the shifting of his weight was carefully calculated, he was careful keep from crushing her into the bed.

Torn between the pain his touch brought and the pleasure that raced along with it, she guided his hand to her breasts one at a time. Letting him test the limits of her endurance. Olivia's breath was growing ragged already, her heart racing with the rain around them. The rocking of the boat moved them, taunting her as his thigh brushed between her legs.

The waiting was the kind of madness that made her want to scream at him in her frustration, but Gregory read the agony in the pitch of her voice. Each instant of denial brought her that much father then she thought she was capable of enduring. Her climax was a shuddering scream that left her head reeling. The heat of it bled down her body as he pulled the blankets back up to her shoulders. Her trembling made him smile that patient, calculated smile.

She reached for his face, surrendering to the quiet in his deep brown eyes. Gregory took her wrist, feeling the blood soaring through her veins from her still speeding heart. He pressed her hand to his chest, sharing the rush of his own heart. "A chuisle mo chroí."

A quiet tear ran towards her nose from one eye. "The pulse of my heart." Olivia whispered back. "Darling-"

Gregory hushed her with a gentle finger across her lips. "You asked me why I stopped cooking."

It took her a moment to remember back to their dinner, and she nodded, wiping the tear away from her nose. "You didn't tell me."

Taking her hand and holding it against his heart, Gregory let out a slow breath. "You stopped eating. After we lost the baby-"

Tears lined up along her eyelashes, fighting to be free of her eyes.

"You'd eat when I forced you, but you would have eaten anything I forced down your throat. Cate was just a baby, she didn't care." Gregory used the hem of his t-shirt to wipe her eyes before pulling it back on over his chest. "I coulldn't spend the time just to throw it away. I couldn't put my heart into something you didn't even taste."

"It became a symbol of how much we lost. How much died with our baby." Gregory pulled her to his chest, burying his face in her hair. "Everytime I watched you pick at your food, I remembered the light that was missing."

"I would have done anything- anything to get that light back." Gregory released her, sliding down the pillow to meet her eyes. "But I couldn't. I was so angry at myself. I failed you because I couldn't make you want that light back."

Olivia watched in quiet awe as the tear appeared on his cheek, glistening in the like of the lantern. "That light came back." He cupped her face in his hands, running fingers around the delicate bones of her eyes. "Your light came back."

It took her three tries to find her voice. Three ties to decide what she wanted to say. Olivia kissed him, putting the sweetness of his words into her lips and returning it to him.

As she lowered her head to her pillow, Olivia smiled impishly. "Does this mean you're making breakfast?"

Gregory nodded, feeling her cool fingertip remove another hot tear from his cheek. "Yes, I guess it does. A very late breakfast..."


	36. last day

The mere presence of Lillian Baxter lowered the temperature in the room. Ethan had tried to explain the effect of his mother on other people to Sean, but his point didn't come across until Sean had met her at the manor house. She was pleasant enough, polite to a fault. "Mum's the stereotype of a proper Victorian woman. She could be collected with the house on fire."

"Even Grandmama was more affectionate then mum is in public and she was a lady of the British Empire. Dame Ethel Baxter of the Somerset Hanover's." Ethan explained as he searched the line of people coming off the plane from England.

"There's a title and a half." Sean replied with a smirk. "Though it's good to know your history. Dad never talks about his parents. I suppose mom didn't know her mother, but sometimes she tells a story about her dad."

"I've heard stories about your grandfather." Ethan offered. "He was a poet. Not a bad one from what my Grandmama told me. Just never really got anywhere with his writing before he died."

Surprised, Sean stopped watching the arrivals. "How'd you hear stories about my grandfather?"

Sean didn't get an answer as Lillian appeared behind them, surprising them both with her clipped accent. "You are pretty poor watchers aren't you?" She was tall, even statuesque with steel-blonde hair kept short and austere.

Ethan whirled, grinning. "You always did like to sneak up when a man's guard is down."

She touched Ethan's chin, studying his face as she straightened his hair. "You're starting to look too much like your father."

"I've thought of having a facelift." Ethan explained dourly as they started towards the baggage claim. "Just to make sure I don't look anything like him."

"That might be a good idea." Lillian nodded to Sean, giving him the same apprising look. "You have more Gregory than your mother in you as well. Be careful for that."

Ethan abandoned Sean to his mother's scrutiny as he nudged through to grab her bag. "Son's should never look like their father's." She explained without cracking a smile. "Makes the father's nostalgic for their own lost youth."

"My dad was never young." Sean deadpanned back, and garnered himself a raised eyebrow of respect.

"Gregory Richards was once the third in a pack of rascals." Lillian explained as she took her bag from Ethan. "But you are correct. Even then, he was never young."

"If that's all mum-" Ethan pointed to the exit.

Lillian shook her head. "I have to pick up Belle from quarantine."

Ethan nearly skipped in excitement. "I knew you'd pick her."

"Belle?" Sean asked in confusion as he followed them to security desk. "Who's Belle?"

Roger looked over the pile of test results one more time, perhaps hoping that this time they'd be different. Alex took the papers from his hands and insinuated herself into his arms. "I know it isn't what you wanted to see."

He knocked the papers off the edge of the coffee table and sent them flying onto the floor. "They're gone now."

Alex laughed as they sailed away. "Just smile for me."

Roger obeyed, turning her around to play his hands through her hair. "Lillian's at the airport by now. She wants to drop Belle off at the Richards' and let the boys get her settled in. Then she'll come by and fill out all the paperwork for you. Sign at the end and you're mortal life will be over, summed up in a nice neat legal document."

"If Lillian does it it'll certainly be neat won't it?" She left his lap and reached for her picture of Casey, tracing the frame with her hand. "I know he's going to be all right. I'm just going to miss him like crazy."

"Wouldn't be his mother if you didn't." Roger settled back into the couch at Surf Central. "I know I'd miss my boy like crazy if I was going away."

Alex set the picture down, loosing her smile as the jolt of pain ran up from just inside her hipbone.

Roger took her hand, letting her dig her fingers into his wrist. "Looks like that hurt."

"Oh it did." Snapping almost playfully at him, Alex nodded. "Why can't I take my morphine?"

"You need to let it out of your system." He explained sadly. "Lower your tolerance so it will do what you want it too."

Alex curled up against him, putting his hand over the stabbing pain in her abdomen. "Sounds so simple when you say it. Can't you throw some medical jargon in there to disguise it for me?"

Roger looked up at the ceiling thoughtfully. "Clearing the blood now will make it work better, faster."

"Tonight isn't that far away, is it?" Alex looked out the window; the sunrise was lovely, bright with promise. "What should we do today?"

Roger tucked his hands beneath her arms, turning his face to her. "Don't you want to spend it with Casey?"

"Casey's out on Heather's research boat today." Alex finished with a wink. "They'll get in around eight. That should give him enough time to say goodbye without him hovering over me all day."

Roger smiled like a little boy on Christmas morning. "So you want to spend your last day on this mortal coil with me?"

"Might as well." Alex teased as she stood up and headed for the kitchen. "You're the next best thing to my Casey around."

"I'm going to remember that you said that." Chuckling, he followed her into the kitchen. "I hope we're going to have waffles. Always thought waffles were the thing on a special occasion."

Gregory climbed the rope ladder back to the deck. Shaking the water out of his hair he grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his waist. Diving into the open ocean was like being alone in the universe. The blue water opened beneath him and went on forever, and he loved it. The quiet power of the ocean calmed him, eased the worries in his heart. The ocean conquered every obstacle it encountered, won every battle. It was inspiring.

Olivia was waiting for him when he dropped back into the cabin, making coffee. She hadn't been doing her hair, just brushing it out and letting it dry. Gregory liked it that way. He liked sneaking up behind her and running it through his hands. She sighed happily as she realized he was back from his swim. "Coffee?"

He took the cup from her hands, taking in the smell gratefully. "You're feeling better again."

Shaking her head in confusion, Olivia let him take her cup and started a new one. "I don't know what it is. I'm fine until the afternoon. Then I'm seasick-"

He rubbed her shoulders, thinking about how cute she was in his old college sweatshirt. "You don't get seasick."

"I did once." She argued innocently. "When we took the boat down to Baha."

Gregory nearly had to spit his coffee back into his cup to keep from inhaling it laughing. "You were pregnant with Caitlin."

Olivia took a sip of her coffee, smirking at him. "We didn't know."

"No, we didn't" Gregory repeated, chuckling at the memory. "I almost sold the boat. I was almost relieved when you told me you were pregnant. At least until I realized what that meant."

"The doctor had to tell you three times." Olivia pointed out, dropping her tone to one of mock seriousness. "I promise you Mr. Richards, in a few weeks you'll be able to take her out on the boat again. In fact, you'd better enjoy it while you can."

Gregory nibbled her neck, thinking about breakfast as he smelled the vanilla of her shampoo. "We did enjoy it, didn't we?"

"Yes. Yes we did." Olivia turned around, taking her neck out of his reach. "What are you making me for breakfast today?"

"Why don't you go up and sit in the sunshine for awhile and let me make it." He suggested as he opened the little refrigerator. "Then you can find out when I'm done."

She pouted over her coffee cup. "I can't sit down here and watch?"

Gregory took a large wooden bowl out of the top cupboard. Setting it on the table and smiling at the adorable way she played with her lips. "If you want to, that would be nice."

"I like to watch you." She explained as she sat back down at the table. "I missed this side of you. Almost forgot it even existed."

He cracked the eggs two at a time, only needing one hand to do it on the side of the bowl. "I think I've missed it too. There's a simple freedom in cooking. You have a blank slate to work with and the finished product is always a surprise."

"Like life?" Olivia wondered as she watched him start beating his eggs into a froth. "It always surprises you. Even if you have the best intentions."

"It is easier not to burn life." He remarked as he fussed with the stove. "Harder to make it smoke because you spilled something on the burners yesterday."

"I think you're missing the metaphor." She hugged her arms across her chest, still wondering why her breasts were so sore.

"Probably." Gregory replied with a smile as he decided he was happy with his batter. "But, I've made what looks like a good start on breakfast."

Olivia finished her coffee, setting the cup back on the counter next to the sink. He was smiling to himself as he continued stirring his batter. "Can I help?"

"I'll let you cut strawberries if you promise not to eat at least half of them." He pointed to the fridge. "I'm serious about half. I really do want some of them to end up with your crepes."

Coming home was like waking up from a beautiful dream. Part of her wanted to stay sleeping forever. Olivia wouldn't have minded as much if the mysterious nausea didn't creep up on her as the sun sank into the Pacific. Gregory was steering the boat, talking to the harbormaster on the radio. She stared at the horizon, praying the sick feeling in her stomach could be banished away to it like seasickness.

Satisfied with their course, Gregory set the wheel for a moment coming to the back of the boat to check on her. "You're not going to throw up your crepes are you? I was pretty proud of them."

Olivia failed in her attempt to smile as he sank to the stern next to her, dangling his feet over the railing. "Don't talk about food. Please."

Gregory's face softened in sympathy. "Sorry. Should I talk about work then?"

She leaned her head against the cool wood of the boat. "We have a board meeting tomorrow don't we?"

"Unfortunately the real world wants us back." Gregory teased, reaching for her shoulder. "I'll put it in the morning."

"I should be all right tomorrow." His hand on her face was almost enough to make her feel better. "I can hardly get seasick on land now can I?"

Gregory almost laughed, sliding closer to her as he watched the sun fade beneath the ocean. "You might be able to find a way." He wondered softly. "If you put your mind to it I think you could do anything Olivia. Even find a way to be seasick on land."

Cuddling up into his arms did make her stomach feel a little less turbulent. She could see the lights of the town start to appear in the reflection of the still water and she wanted to beg him to turn the boat around. To go back out into the ocean and forget everything that happened in town.

"But I doubt that's the problem."

Tim picked them up at the marina. It took a double take to make sure the Richards' were where they said they were. Olivia's hair was loose, straight down her back. The old sweatshirt she had on was too big and the rolled up cuffs made her look like a little girl. Tim had never seen Gregory in a t-shirt before. He looked like an ordinary guy. Except for his posture, he could have been any middle-aged man from Ludlow. The bearing was that of a statesman, but the smile made him a contradiction again.

Olivia barely acknowledged him, getting into the car as soon as he opened the door without a word. Gregory had that look he'd been walking around with more and more lately. A quiet sort of pensiveness, as if he was waiting for something to happen.

He took Tim aside. "I want to stop on the way home. There's a 24-hour drugstore on Lexington that's not too far out of the way."

Tim nodded quickly. "Sure, that's no problem."

"Good." Gregory started back to the car.

"Forgive me for being nosy- but are you both all right?" Tim knew it was almost a mistake to ask, but Gregory didn't have a reprimand for him. Instead, he paused and waited a moment for Tim to fall into step with him.

"Thank you for your concern Tim, but we're both going to be fine. Just fine."

Gregory was the one to get out at the pharmacy. Olivia's eyes were closed; she could have been asleep just from the drive over. Tim watched the empty street. Parts of Sunset Beach were so quiet at night. Almost like home. Though there never would have been a big black limousine parked in front of the pharmacy in Ludlow.

Through the window he could see Gregory paying for something the pharmacist folded into a white paper bag. Tim spent the time it took to drive back to the house speculating about what it was. Vitamins? - Not at this time of night. Condoms? - Tim didn't really want to speculate on his employers' sex life. Tranquilizers? News of Olivia's radio incident was all over Sunset Beach. Death threats invoked the same morbid fascination as a car accident or news of a mafia hit on the news. Mrs. Richards would be upset, maybe she was sedated and that was why she had fallen asleep almost the moment she had gotten into the car.

Tranquilizers made the most sense. Gregory woke her apologetically as they pulled into the driveway.

It was certainly a testament to how exhausted she was that Olivia didn't even argue with her husband. She let him led her home without complaint. Tim followed them up to the door, holding it open for them as they made their way slowly inside. He shut the door just as they collapsed on to the sofa together.

Olivia looked up at him, eyes already full of sleep. "Can't I just sleep here?"

Gregory was almost tempted to let her, but she'd never get to sleep long enough in their living room. "If you sit up I'll carry you to bed."

"I'm afraid you can't go to bed just yet." Lillian emerged from the shadows of the study. Her proper features were almost readable. Something was wrong. "You need to change, both of you, and go to the hospital."

"Lillian-" Gregory started in surprise.

"The hospital?" Was the only part Olivia heard. She sat up quickly, taking Gregory's hand for support when the living room began to spin around her. "Who's in the hospital?"

"Everyone now." Lillian began as gently as she was capable of being. "Sean, Ethan, Caitlin, Bette, Roger, a young man named Casey and his sweetheart." She came towards them both, sitting down stiff backed in a chair across from the sofa. "Alex Mitchum is dying, her cancer put her into multiple organ failure this afternoon. She was admitted a few hours ago."

Olivia ran into the kitchen, her dormant nausea flaring up with the terrible news. Gregory remained across from Lillian, starting at her in cold shock. Her face softened again, but never broke into real emotion. "I am sorry. I know Alex was a friend to both of you. I've only just met her today, but I find her a charming wit. It will be a shame indeed to see her go."

Gregory's voice sharpened into a demand. "What- what happened?"

"Roger says the combination of everything was too much. Cancer, chemotherapy, steroids. Her cancer was diagnosed very late. There were few options a year ago. Now they have all been exhausted." Lillian's calm would have been infuriating if he could bring himself to blame her.

Gregory couldn't. "Will Roger meet us there?"

"He's been there all afternoon. He was the one who had her admitted."

Olivia emerged quietly from the kitchen. Her face chalk-white but her feet steady. "I'm going to go change."

Lillian pulled her car keys from her pocket and waiting by the door. "I'll drive you, seeing that you've just sent your driver home for the evening."

"Thank you." He wished Lillian sincerely. "It was good of you to come to wait for us." She nodded, knowing she was useful. Retrieving his white paper package from the floor next to the doorway, Gregory followed Olivia upstairs.

She was already dressed in the first thing from her closet, a simple gray sweater and black pants when he found her in the bathroom. The calm from their boat trip had gone along with his class of '74 maroon t-shirt. Hanging her head over the sink, Olivia had her eyes closed tightly.

Gregory took the necessary moment to touch her arm, inquiring after her well-being without saying a word.

Olivia shook her head, taking a deep breath as she lifted her head. "I'll be fine. Get changed."

He set his package on the counter in front of her, letting her open it as he changed clothes. Gregory was pulling on the top pair of slacks from his neat pile in his side of the closet when Olivia appeared in the doorway, pregnancy test in hand.

That hand was shaking as she gestured towards him. "When did you buy this?"

He pulled on a pale green polo shirt, reaching for a pair of socks. "On the way home."

Olivia held the box to her chest for a moment, her expression fluctuating rapidly from one emotion to the next. "Oh, darling."

"I thought we'd have time." Gregory explained simply as he stepped into his shoes. "After all, you don't get seasick."

Ripping the box open, she stuffed the test into her purse as she slung it over her shoulder. "When we get home." Olivia promised them both, her free right hand unconsciously going to her stomach, wondering if there was a passenger beneath her fingers.

Gregory took her arm to lead her back to the car. 'Alex is dying' seemed like a joke as it played in his head on the way to the hospital. He wondered if she'd even be awake when they arrived. Maybe she'd die during their trip, robbing all three of them of the chance to say their goodbyes.

Olivia was barely tolerating the motion of the car. Her hand became clammy in his as Tim drove to the hospital. She wanted the car to stop moving, to beg Tim to pull over long enough for her stomach to quiet down. That wasn't possible. Time was essential. She squeezed Gregory's hand once, deeply relieved when he squeezed back.

Understanding how much worse she must have been feeling now that stress was compounding her symptoms, Gregory knew how much effort went into her composure. It was going to be one of the longest nights of their lives.

The hallway to Alex's room was a gauntlet of familiar faces. Ethan and Sean camped out together on the couch closest to her room. Bette standing with Caitlin by the wall. Roger looking surprisingly professional in his long white coat. He addressed them first. It was obvious, both in the pink around his eyes and the roughness of his voice that he had been crying.

"Good of you to make it." He took Olivia's arm, and then hugged her. Communicating with his concern about her to Gregory over her shoulder with a lift of his eyebrows. "Have fun sailing?"

The forced small talk made Olivia start to cry. Bette came to comfort her, whispering to her as Roger pulled Gregory aside.

"She looks awful."

Gregory lowered his head, careful to keep his whispering from being overhead. "Like clockwork on the boat. Started to hit late afternoon and she was miserable."

"Don't keep her here long." Roger warned. "You should get her to bed."

Gregory nodded subtly, taking a deep breath before he could ask. "Alex?"

"Livie, Livie it's all right." Promising in a voice full of compassion, Bette brought Olivia to the couch she was stealing from the two boys. "She said she's relieved. Death hanging over her head was getting boring."

Olivia made a choked noise somewhere between a sob and a laugh. "That sounds like Alex."

"She's all right honey." Bette assured her with complete confidence. "She's a tough girl. Just glad you and Greggy made it a back."

"Mom and dad cut it close didn't they?" Caitlin asked her brother as he and Ethan came over to her after loosing their seats. "I mean they barely made it to the hospital in time."

"Must be tough to get a message in protective custody." Sean justified calmly. "Can't just let anything go through."

She didn't care for his apathy. "You're not worried?"

Sean shrugged. "You talked to Alex when I did. She said she was happy. Contented/ even. Why should I worry for her?"

"I'd worry about your mom." Ethan indicated with a tilt of his head. "She looks worse then the day she left. Food must have been awful in police custody." They stood around uncomfortably in a long silence.

Finally Sean looked up from his feet. "Anyone else want to look for the vending machines?" The other two nodded, and the three of them left together. Hoping to find some answers in chocolate bars and pretzels.

Alex smiled up at her son from the stark white of her hospital bed, ignoring the tears streaming down his handsome face. "Oh honey. I know you're going to miss me. I'm going to miss you just as badly."

"I'm always around you baby boy. Just pick up a camera. There I am." Casey leaned down, unable to speak as he kissed his mother's forehead. "I'm always around. Even cancer can't get rid of me."

Roger circled around Casey, walking up to whisper in her ear. "They just got back. Want me to send them in?"

Alex nodded to Roger, and then turned to meet her son's earnest blue eyes. "Baby I need to say goodbye to them. You give me a minute and come right back."

He leaned down to kiss her forehead again, following her request without a word. Casey was a ghost of his former self as he emerged into the hall. Roger was a step behind him, pulling in Gregory and Olivia with a gesture of his arm. Bette rubbed her back, trying to help steel her against her task. Then she went to Casey, wordlessly wrapping her arms around his chest.

Alex still had her smile. An IV was connected to her wrist, but no other machines filled her room. No monitors, no hissing respirator. Gregory looked around, but was too distracted to be suspicious.

She opened her arms to them, sitting up in bed to hug Olivia to her. Patting the bed next to her and scooting to the side, Alex coaxed her onto the bed next to her. "Sorry I couldn't get you a better welcome back present."

Gregory's hands went to Olivia's shoulders, drawing support from her. "This is a hell of a way to say you missed someone Alex."

She shrugged, her eyes twinkling for a moment. "I try to be unique."

"You've always been that." Olivia ventured in a shaky voice. "Always the adventurer."

"Borneo's going to miss me." Alex teased, flashing that irrepressible smile.

Gregory had to swallow before he could speak. "Sunset Beach will miss you too."

"I want you two to promise to take care of each other." Alex asked firmly, starting finally to get serious. "Since I'm not going to be around to tell you to behave you'll have to listen to each other. Be good to each other."

Looking into those piercing brown eyes of Gregory's, she let her secret off of her chest. Letting the weight disappear with it. "I love you."

He struggled for a reply, but Olivia leaned forward, folding Alex into a tight embrace. "We love you too."

As Olivia sat back up, Gregory brought his hands immediately back to her shoulders. If he put them anywhere else, they were just going to tremble. Alex smiled again, she seemed to have no shortage of them tonight. Olivia's solution was simple, acknowledging everyone's feelings without treading that shaky ground between.

"I'll see you two again." Alex promised, taking heart that they were together. Stable. "Now you get home to bed. Both of you look worse then I feel."

Olivia hugged her again and Gregory kissed her cheek just shy of the corner of her mouth. "We'll see you." He affirmed as he wrapped his arm around Olivia's back. "We'll see you."

"I'll be around." Alex pulled Roger close again to whisper to him. "Just take care of each other!" She ordered, finding that inner strength that let her chuckle as she whispered to Roger.

Bette had a long, comforting hug for Olivia. Even Gregory welcomed her quick embrace. Sean and Caitlin both got crushed to Olivia's chest one at a time. Caitlin was quick to come to her father, but something was odd when she hugged him. Gregory couldn't place it, and was soon so distracted by the awkward hug Sean gave him that he distinctly forgot all about the strange feeling he got when he looked at Caitlin.

Lillian had waited with Bette, leaning in close to her ear as Caitlin hugged her mother. "Roger says you should watch her."

"Alex mentioned it too." Bette replied, trying not to stare at the young blonde. "I'll keep my eyes peeled. Going back with them?"

Lillian shook her head. "Oceanview Hotel. Though, I wish I was going to be around when Gregory finds out about Belle."

Bette smirked, putting her hand on her hip. "And just who is Belle?"

"The biggest, fluffiest alarm system I've ever seen." Lillian granted Bette a secretive wink. "He's going to adore her."

Sean and Caitlin followed their parents to the car. Caitlin volunteered to drive, and Gregory handed over the keys. Sean dropped into the passenger seat, listening to his mother cry into his father's chest in the backseat. Caitlin started the car and turned up the radio in the front seat. She didn't want to hear anything her parents were doing.

Sean gave her puzzled look, but she didn't reply or even seem to notice him. He looked out the window, watching the street lights twinkle in the darkness.

Casey fell asleep with his head on his mother's hospital bed. Roger entered Alex's room just before dawn, he had already filled the needle. She gestured him closer with one finger.

Alex pulled him in close. She took a neatly folded note and tucked it into his pocket. "That goes in a copy of my book for the Richards baby. I want him or her to understand what I was thinking."

Roger patted the note and nodded. "Note for the baby, check."

Rhythmicly stroking her son's hair, Alex closed her eyes for a moment. "Two-to-one says Olivia's pregnant by the end of the week."

Shaking his head, Roger leaned down to kiss her cheek. "I'll give you one-to-one she's pregnant now. Lillian saw Gregory bring the test up to their bedroom."

Alex's last smile was contented. "Keep an eye on things for me?"

Roger nodded, shameless tears fringing his green eyes. "Always do."

She closed her eyes again, listening to the breathing of her son, asleep at her feet. "Going to miss him" Alex offered again, opening her eyes to look at the needle in Roger's hand.

"Ready?"

She pulled him in, kissing him hungrily. Roger returned the kiss as he threaded the needle into her IV. He brought his thumb to his fingers, flooding the IV line with the contents of the syringe.

Alex lay back on the pillows, her hand still resting on Casey's head. "Best last day of my life."

Her eyes closed.

He shut the door to her room when he left. Leaning back against it for a moment.

"She's gone now?" The voice was Bette, sitting patiently on the couch by his side. Roger nodded as she stood up and took his hand. "She asked you."

Not a question, a simple statement. Again, Roger nodded. "How could I refuse?"


	37. Belle

Sleep was avoiding her. Olivia had been ready to collapse gratefully into bed, but that was before the hospital. Before Alex. Gregory had managed to go to sleep and her side of the bed waited patiently for her, but she couldn't stop pacing. If she stopped moving, she saw Alex.

Alex smiling and telling her the cancer wasn't anything to worry about. That everything was fine. She had been an excellent liar. "We didn't suspect. No one suspected anything, you had us all fooled Alex." Olivia murmured to herself. Alex had hidden her condition so well everyone who knew her was still in shock. Gregory had shut down. She couldn't blame him. Everything seemed to be so stacked against them. Alex had been their cheerleader, a confidant for both of them. Whatever secrets she held were gone now with her. Olivia sat down on the bed again, looking out the window to the sea.

She wanted to wake Gregory and beg him to take her away again. Back out to sea where the only sound she had to hear at night was the water. Of course they couldn't. There was too much to be done. Alex had to have a proper send off in her next, greatest adventure. Bette and Roger would be handling that. They had the emotional fortitude to do it. Neither Gregory or herself would have been up to the task.

Olivia wasn't even sure she if she would make it through Alex's will tomorrow. Thankfully, Alex had been thoughtful enough not to put them through a video like Del's. Lillian had promised it would be brief. Even in death, Alex was direct.

She left the bed for the bathroom, perhaps another glass of water would banish her headache. She should just try to sleep. Gregory would be worried about her in the morning. He'd invariably get that concerned knot in the middle of his forehead. Deciding to take a more active role against her headache, she found her purse on top of the dresser. The aspirin bottle was near the bottle, neath her checkbook. Her fingers hit something hard, plastic and unfamiliar.

In the haze of her insomnia, Olivia didn't remember the pregnancy test until she pulled it from her purse. She shoved it back to the bottom, putting her hand nervously over her womb. Gregory seemed nearly certain she was pregnant, reminding her time and again that she didn't just 'get seasick'.

What type of irresponsible would it be to be pregnant now? Yes, she had wanted it as much as he did, but that was before Cole St. John. Before her life was reducing to a bargaining point in a madman's game. Would Cole use an embryo as well? Was he could enough to exploit the extra bit of vulnerability being pregnant would give her?

Olivia swallowed her aspirin and the rest of her water. Of course he was. Cole had proven he was a monster. She remembered the inhuman look in his eyes. the sick twist of his lips as he wrapped his hands around her throat. No one had ever shown that kind of pleasure in her pain before. Terror raced through her, not for herself, but for the innocent life she could be exposing to that monster - If she was pregnant.

It could still be explained away. Nausea was stress, being under the near-constant threat of death would make anyone queasy. Headaches were from exhaustion, the soreness of her body from helping Gregory with the boat. She wasn't pregnant. She couldn't be. The timing was all wrong. Olivia sighed heavily, realizing all the reasons she could collect for her not to be pregnant would invariably become the reasons why she was.

Gregory was surprised to see Caitlin at breakfast. He couldn't recall the last time she'd been present for a meal. Getting, coffee, he sat down across from her. "Good morning."

Caitlin looked up, surprised. "Hey daddy, I thought you were Sean and Ethan." She stood up to kiss his cheek, unexpected pleased to have him to herself.

"I didn't think they got up this early." He pointed towards the open Sentinel. "Finished?"

Caitlin pushed the paper over. "Vanessa Hart must have been at the hospital last night, Alex is the exclusive."

The harsh response she expected was instead a relieved sigh. "So she finally found something other then that dammed thief to write about?" Gregory asked rhetorically as Caitlin's shock faded into a smile.

"Yeah," She took a sip of orange juice as she watched him look the article over. "She said some really nice things about Alex and her work."

"Good." The feature story was indeed all about Alex, using the picture from the inside cover of her Africa book. Looking at her now was more difficult then Gregory expected, and he had to set the picture aside. "I'm glad it's a good article."

Seeing him put it aside surprised her. "Aren't you going to read it?"

"Later." Gregory promised softly. "Later." The silence that followed between them was more uncomfortable then she had ever imagined it being in the past.

"What are you thinking about?" Caitlin ventured finally, resting her hands on the table and wishing he'd trust her. Like he used to.

Gregory looked up from his coffee, almost started she was still there. "I'm sorry sweetheart, what did you say?"

Caitlin reached across the table to take his hand, feeling the metal of his wedding ring against her palm. "You look like there's a lot on your mind."

He picked up his coffee cup and set it back down without taking a sip. Caitlin was right, but nothing in his thoughts could be shared with her. He couldn't tell his daughter that he had accidently kissed Alex, thinking she was Olivia. He couldn't tell her how Alex had confessed her love him and Olivia had taken it in stride. Gregory couldn't explain how much he loved her mother in that moment in the hospital room.

Instead of turning on him as he certainly would have done in her place, Olivia had trusted both of them. Putting her faith in her belief that neither would betray her, even in their hearts.

Yes, Alex had loved him, and yes he had his own share of unresolved feelings for her. The problem was there, waiting to blaze into a conflict that would have destroyed them all - except for Olivia. She knew something Gregory dared not admit to himself. Olivia knew that she possessed him in a way no one else could. Not even Alex Mitchum.

Caitlin was still staring at him. "Hello- daddy? You were really gone there for awhile." She smiled, as if she knew exactly what he was going to say. "Come on daddy, you can tell me."

He was worried about her moving out, she told herself. That had to be it. She'd been gone so much lately, he must have missed her. Even started to wonder if she was indeed moving out. He'd be so happy when she explained she wasn't. Caitlin waited, expecting him to say something at any moment as he sipped his coffee. She was ready to reassure him. She would stay as long as he needed her.

"I was just thinking about your mother. She didn't g to sleep until early this morning." Gregory looked out the window into the morning, entirely missing the way his daughter's excited expression faded into a look of pure hatred.

"Maybe you should go check on her." She suggested as she tightened her knuckles until they were white in the tablecloth.

Gregory looked back to her, the faraway look in her eyes giving way to a softness she rarely saw in his face. "I think I will, tell your brother good morning for me when he gets back."

Smiling made her face sting with effort. "I will." Caitlin tore away from the table as soon as he was out of the room. She had to tell Cole. They had both agreed to hold off just long enough for her father to deal with his grief over Alex. Caitlin didn't want to put him through any undue pain, but he wasn't even thinking about Alex. Her mother had him completely brainwashed and Olivia was going to pay dearly for taking Gregory away. Cole would see to that.

Gregory found Olivia lying in bed, her back to him. Praying silently she was asleep, he circled the bed. She was wide awake. Her eyes were open and she had his pillow clutched to her chest. "I was hoping you'd be asleep."

Olivia shook her head, moving over so he could sit on the edge of the bed. "I can't."

He reached down, laying the back of his hand against her cheek. "You're not trying very hard with your eyes open."

"Darling- I can't." She protested sadly. "I can't close my eyes without seeing her."

"Alex didn't suffer Liv." Gregory ran his hand comfortingly down her cheek. "Roger said she was smiling- happy."

"How could she be happy?" Olivia asked in a tortured whisper.

"You know Alex." Kissing her cheek almost made her smile. "She couldn't have wasted away. She had to go while she was still herself."

Olivia closed her eyes, deciding to believe him. Gregory started to fidget with a stray lock of hair at her shoulder.

"What do we do now?" She asked finally.

He tucked her hair back behind her head. "Get up, take a shower, come have breakfast with me."

Taking his advice, she sat up slowly. "You didn't eat yet?"

Gregory leaned forward to kiss her forehead. "No darling, I waited for you."

Sean, Ethan and Belle returned midmorning, meeting Bette as she walked up towards the house.

"Now, who's this-" She teased as Belle sniffed her hand. "Pretty small for a pony I'd say."

Sean grinned. "She's for mom."

"A little extra security." Ethan added, removing the leash and letting the huge St. Bernard explore the living room. "Computer systems are one thing. Dogs have a human touch."

"She's adorable," Bette pronounced as the brown and white face turned towards her, showing off a pair of gorgeous brown eyes.

"And she knows it." Sean added as Belle sat in front of Bette and raised a paw.

Laughing good-naturedly, Bette took the giant paw and shook it. "Pleased to meet you." Belle barked once, a deep echoing sound.

"She was my mum's." Ethan explained proudly as Belle fell in step behind them on their way to the dining room. " Lillian picked for her Olivia because she's a lady's dog. Only listens to men if she really, really likes them."

"Ah." Bette noted as she fluffed the soft fur. "She should get along famously with your mother then, won't she cutie?"

Gregory nearly dropped the coffee pot when he heard barking in his living room.

Olivia shrugged when he looked at her. "I have no idea. Unless Spike magically grew ten-times bigger overnight.."

Bette appeared from the living room, followed by Ethan and Sean. Taking an orange prescription bottle from her purse, she set it in front of Gregory. "Dr. Livingston sent these as a gift. You're going to need to take one in the morning and one before bed." She winked at Olivia. "Livie can remind you."

Examining the bottle, garnered Bette a raised eyebrow from Gregory. "So you boys really did it?"

Sean nodded, deeply pleased with himself as his father downed his new allergy medication. "She's huge."

Retreating to the far side of the table behind his wife, Gregory sighed. "You still think this is necessary?"

Both boys nodded. "She's been my mum's since she was a baby. She'll kill for Olivia." Ethan promised seriously. "I'll grab her leash and bring her in."

"What's going to kill for me? And why is Roger giving you drugs?" Olivia tried to read the faces around her, looking especially to Gregory's quiet apprehension.

"Livingston is trying to keep Gregory from sneezing himself to death over your new security system." Bette promised. "And you're going to love her, she looks just like that dog Vincent used to have-" Snapping her fingers, she tried to remember the name. "That one who loved Gregory so much."

"Ripper?" Olivia asked softly, hiding a smile behind her hand. "Ripper loved you darling."

Gregory groaned as he remembered. "That thing wanted to kill me and all of you thought it was funny."

"He liked you." Bette corrected firmly.

"He liked to make me sneeze. Damn thing knew I was allergic." Gregory finished as Ethan led Belle in on a leash.

"Everyone this is Olivia's new bodyguard, Belle." Looking down at the dog, he snapped his fingers. "Say hello."

She barked once and Sean took the leash. "Ethan used to take her to shows. She's really smart mom, watch." Sean snapped his fingers again and moved his hand in a circle. Belle trotted around him and sat at his feet when he lowered his hand. Reaching down he undid the leash and pointed to his mother. "Belle, this is my mom. You're going to keep her safe."

The St. Bernard took a few steps forward. Sean looked up at his mom and held out his hand. "She has to smell you."

Olivia stood from her chair and shyly held out her hand. "Like this?"

Ethan took her wrist and held her hand out, palm up. "Just like this."

Belle sniffed, seeming content as she waited, tail patiently wagging.

"Now, get down to her level and look in her eyes." Ethan advised as Gregory kept to his corner of the dining room.

Olivia looked at her son for confirmation and Sean nodded. "Dogs are about trust mom. You have to show her you trust her."

Feeling rather foolish, she knelt down anyway, looking into the huge brown eyes and pink nose. "These two young men would really like us to get along." Olivia explained gently. "Do you think we can manage it?"

Belle demurely licked her chin and barked as Olivia sprang up, giggling.

"There you are." Ethan announced proudly. "Friends already."

Sean ruffled Belle's soft ears thoughtfully. "I think she likes you mom."

Olivia pulled him into a hug. "I think she's lovely Sean. Thanks for looking out for me."

Slightly embarrassed, Sean snapped Belle's leash back on to her brown leather collar. "I think I'll take her back out, haven't shown her to Mark yet."

Ethan pointed to the kitchen door. "Let's steal some breakfast first." With the boys in tow, Belle disappeared happily into the kitchen.

Olivia sat back down, smiling at Gregory's bemused expression. "You supported this? You hate dogs."

"I supported Sean." Gregory explained as Rose set muffins and scrambled eggs in front of them.

"Thank you Rose." Olivia remarked mechanically.

"So, Sean wanted the dog?" Bette supposed as she reached for a muffin.

"Sean thought Olivia would be safer with a dog around. Though we still have that mutt-" Olivia looked at him sharply and he corrected himself.

"Spike, Sean wanted something intimidating. Ethan has quite a collection of dogs in England and he was willing to bring Belle over." He opened a muffin and buttered it, handing it to Olivia on a small plate.

Touched, she patted his hand in thanks. "It's sweet of you to listen to him like that."

"And good that you found some common ground with that handsome son of yours." Bette pointed out as she took another muffin. "You can worry about Livie together." Ready to leave, she stood. "But thanks for the breakfast, I've got to run back to Livingston, we still have a few things to work out before the service tomorrow."

"How is Roger doing?" Olivia wondered as she toyed with her muffin. "We haven't heard from him since last night.

Bette favored them both with a sage smile. "He'll be all right. Just tough to lose a friend like that. Alex's death was a shock to all of us." She explained, easily keeping Roger's secret. "See you this afternoon."

"Goodbye Bette." Gregory waved a hand lazily as he started on the eggs. Bette nodded to him and waiting, hands on her hips for Olivia to acknowledge her leaving.

Gregory finally got her attention by taking her hand and she jumped, nearly spilling her coffee. "I'm sorry." Olivia offered as she steadied her cup.

Shaking her head, Bette chuckled dryly as Gregory bailed out his wife. "Bette was just telling us she'd see us later."

"Oh." Olivia blinked. "Later then."

"More coffee." Bette suggested as she left through the kitchen.

Gregory watched Olivia continue to pick at her muffin, taking it apart piece by piece. "Are you going to eat it or destroy it?"

Olivia dropped her hands to her lap. Cheeks flushing with guilt. "A little of both, but more of the latter I guess." Shaking her head she pushed it aside. "I'm sorry darling."

Studying the vacant look in her eyes, Gregory took the plate away. "You feeling all right?"

Getting up to get her coffee cup, she missed the question.

"Olivia?" He touched her shoulder as she sat back down. Finally gaining her attention.

"What?" She asked innocently. "What did you say?"

Gregory was tempted to suggest she go back to bed. "I asked if you were all right."

"Fine." She answered quickly, too quickly for him to accept it and he waited, staring at her until she decided to be honest. She sighed heavily, feeling her chest sink towards the floor. "I can't stop thinking about Cole. I know it's selfish of me."

"It's not selfish at all."

"But I should be thinking about Alex. I should be grieving. I should be explaining to Sean that I'm not in enough danger to need a bodyguard, canine or otherwise. I should-"

Gregory stopped her with a hand under her chin. "Sean feels better knowing you're protected and Alex is in a good place." He promised her firmly. "She, of all people. wouldn't want you to feel guilty." Continuing, he started another muffin for her on a new plate. "And you're dealing with your grief as best you know how. You'll deal with our loss in your own way. Perhaps not when you expect it."

She took the muffin. This time biting into it gratefully. "You're right darling." Olivia admitted as she swallowed. "The funeral is going to be awful."

He rested his hand supportively on her arm, feeling her flesh beneath the silk of her robe. "I'll sit next to you."

Nodding slowly, Olivia took another bite of her muffin. "It wouldn't be so difficult if we didn't have to worry about Cole all the time. I wish Del had never given the jewels to me in the first place. I just want to throw those damn things away."

Gregory listened, then snapped his fingers, feeling suddenly brilliant. "Get rid of the jewels," he repeated as he stood up and kissed her forehead. "Can't believe I didn't think of it. I'm going to make a few calls."

He pointed to her plate. "Finish breakfast, I'll be right back."


	38. earthly belongings

The reading of Alex's will that afternoon was brief. Along with the entire family, Roger, Ethan, Bette, Casey and his girlfriend Heather were in attendance. Unlike the last time they read a will at One Ocean Avenue, this one had everyone reaching out to the people around them. Gregory hadn't let Olivia out of his arms for more then a few minutes since his cryptic phone calls that morning. Bette and Roger held hands. Ethan rested his hand on Sean's shoulder, making them look more like siblings. Caitlin sat alone. She liked Alex well enough, but she didn't a see a point in her being present. Casey and Heather had the other couch. Belle lay at Lillian's feet in a beam of sunshine from the patio, taking the time to part ways with her old master.

Lillian took a sip of water, cleared her throat and began to read. "_I, Alexandra Mitchum, being of sound mind and judgement, hearafter bequeath what I have acculmulated in life and no longer require to my family and friends. May it serve you until I see you all again."_

_"My quarter of Liberty, my stock in my publisher, all royalties from my books, present and future- I leave these to my baby boy, Casey. I know you're not used to having a lot of money to manage, so I suggest you ask any of my trusted friends to help you. Roger, Gregory, Ben and Olivia will be more then willing to take you under their wings and teach you everything you need to know."_

_"My personal savings are to be set aside in trust for my grandchildren."_

"She believed there would be several." Lillian noted cooly. Olivia watched the marine biologist, Heather, take Casey's hand and smile. She remembered smiling like that once. Several seemed like a safe bet for Alex.

Alex left much to charities, mostly organizations for children's health. A collection of books on photography, including a copy of every book she had ever written or collaborated on, was donated to the Sunset Beach Public Library. As well as a portion of her stock set aside to form an annual university scholarship for someone deserving._ "Dr. Roger Baxter will be adminisitrating the fund. I wish him luck."_

She had not owned a house, being too much of a nomad to every settle down, but she did own several vacation properties. _"My cabana in Madagascar goes to my dear Roger. Who should be able to find a home for his wild spirit in the jungles there."_ Bette squeezed his hand a little tighter when the tear escaped down his smiling face.

_"The island in the South Pacific is for Casey. It's about time you have your own beach honey."_ Casey didn't react. Olivia's heart went out to him. Watching him reminded her of Thomas' funeral, so many years ago on the hillside in England. For a moment she felt the biting wind from the past reach for her, and she was deeply grateful for the warmth of Gregory's arm about her shoulders.

Lillian paused to take another drink of water, giving her son a small smile. _"My three horses are for you Ethan, I know you'll take care of them."_ Ethan winked at his mom, and his quiet smile made everyone feel a little brighter.

_"My little boat, 'Bonnie', is for you Sean. Every doctor needs a yacht, even if it's just a small one. It's a start." _Sean moved in his chair, surprised at the gift. He'd been on 'Mo Chuisle' hundreds of times, but that was his father's boat. This one would be for him.

_"The last thing I have to settle is a surprise. I was saving it for a special occasion, and I guess this will have to do."_ Olivia bit her lip, forcing the sob to stay in her throat.

_"Esquire, you've been my partner-in-crime for me years then I'd care to admit."_ Gregory's fingers tightened on her arm, but no outward sign of emotion made it to his face. _"I hope you'll think of me when you're looking down over the ocean. I expect you to have Olivia with you and I expect that you'll take care of each other."_ Olivia's hand rested open-palmed over Gregory's heart, feeling the pulse in his chest calmed her.

_"My cottage in Italy is for the two of you. I know Italy's always been something special for you, and I hope my little hideaway adds to those memories. Live well, enjoy your lives and each other."_

_"That goes for all of you, my friends, my dear family. Have a drink for me once in awhile and know I'll see all of you when you come to the end of what I hope, will be long and very fruitful journeys. I expect some beautiful stories when we see each other again."_

Lillian watched the faces around her as she folded the will away. Sean's awestuck joy, Gregory's crumbling facade of control as he looked in Olivia's eyes, Roger's openness with both his grief and his happiness, the serene way Bette kept an eye on everyone in the room; all of it was a glimpse into the person Alex must have been. The light she must have brought into a room ws obvious in Heather's silent sympathy, Olivia's tearful acceptance, and even Casey's struggle to find himself again now that his mother was gone.

As she stood up she remembered the addendum the publishing company had called to inform her of that very morning. "Excuse me please, I have one more thing to add." The little group went silent immediately. "Alex's last book will be published in February, each of her subjects will recieve a special edition, she intended to autograph them- but unfortunately there wasn't time. A note of her appreciate will be printed on the inside cover. Thank you all for your time."

As Lillian straightened her case and prepared to leave, Bette turned to Roger in her chair. "She didn't even mention Caitlin."

Roger looked across the room to the young blonde sitting between the two young men. "I think that may have been deliberate." Confinding softly, he leaned in towards her shoulder. "Alex hasn't trusted the girl lately."

Bette could smell the expensive aftershave he wore as his face got closer to hers. "So that's why I got the cryptic deathbed warning. What exactly has Beauty done to earn Alex's distrust?"

Taking her hand, Roger shook his head. "Not here. Come, we'll get a coffee at the Waffle Shop and I'll explain what I know." They said their goodbyes, explaining they still had things to arrange for the service.

After a polite goodbye, Casey and Heather went home. Casey was still having trouble speaking in sentances of more then a few words. Heather was much better off. "We'll see all of you tomorrow."

"We'll be home today if you need anything." Olivia reassured them both as she tried to find the bright young man she knew in Casey's eyes. "Just give us a ring."

"Thanks Mrs. Richards. We will if we think of anything." Heather promised as she lead Casey to the car.

Sean and Ethan were next at the doorway, Caitlin reluctantly following behind. "The regatta's going by." Sean explained as he hugged his mother goodbye. "Ben Evans is in it again for the first time in the last five years."

"It's his big comeback." Ethan explained, dragging Caitlin out into the sunshine.

"Have fun." Gregory called softly as Sean waved back up at the house, Belle prancing at his heels. Olivia watched them go from the patio door as Rose set a fresh pot of coffee on the bar. Getting a cup, Gregory started to fill one for Olivia, but she faltered in the sunshine. Retreating back away from the doorway with on hand over her stomach. She caught the back of the couch with her free hand for support, but she smiled when he looked at her. Trying to look as if nothing had changed.

He subtly checked his watch, observing her in the reflection in the mirror on the wall. When Olivia thought he wasn't looking she sank quickly into the sofa. Swallowing, she closed her eyes for a moment, trying to regain her equilibrium. His watch said it was just past three. It seemed this child was going to let her have mornings. The opposite of Sean.

Catching Rose as she headed back to the kitchen, he made a request. "Could you bring Mrs. Richards some tea, peppermint if we have it, I don't think she's up to coffee at the moment."

Rose nodded efficiently. "Of course, I'll be back in a moment."

"Thank you." Returning to the sofa, he turned to inquire about Olivia's sudden lack of color, but Lillian interrupted.

She had a familiar looking backpack in her hands. "Alex requested that I give this to you personally." Lillian pulled a battered black and silver camera out of the abused leather backpack. "She wanted you to have this. Gregory took it and read the attached note. _"So you can find more beauty in life Esquire." _He caressed the lines of the camera thoughtfully. "This was her first one. She worked all summer to buy it after she finished college."

"You'll have to take good care of it then." Olivia advised softly, trying not to move her head. Lillian set Alex's pack at her feet, drawing a puzzled look.

"Alex told me someday you will know someone who will get use of it." Lillian explained with a mysterious smile.

Rose set a steaming cup of tea on the small table at Gregory's arm. He reached for it on Olivia's behalf, handing it to her without a word. She looked down at the bag and back at Lillian.

"I don't understand."

Gregory slipped his arm around her back, just as confused as she was. "Alex seemed to think you will. We can't ask her, so we'll just have to wait and see." He wached Olivia set down her tea, struggling again with the nausea she was unwilling to admit. "Thank you again for handling all of this."

The ex-Mrs. Baxter, nodded serenely as she pickedup her case. "It was a pleasure to help. I'm back to London tonight, but Roger tells me he intends to ask you over for Christmas."

Olivia rested her head on Gregory's shoulder to keep it from spinning and smiled up wistfully at Lillian. "I'd love to have Christmas at the Manor."

Gregory smiled in agreement as he got up to show Lillian to the door. Olivia moved to get up as well, but he prevented her with a hand on her shoulder. "Don't get up, Lillian and I can manage. He leaned down, kissing her forehead in apology for his overprotective nature. "Be right back."

Olivia waited, taking small sips of her tea and wondering how he had thought to ask Rose for it. Closing her eyes, she leaned back and tried to remember what peppermint tea reminded her of. She felt Gregory wave his hand gently in front of her face, he was probably wishing she was asleep. Opening her eyes into his concerned ones made her remember. "Sugar cookies." Olivia told him proudly. "I had sugar cookies and-"

"-Mint tea when you were pregnant with Sean." Gregory finished as he knelt down in front of her her, wondering if she'd make the connection. If she did, she wasn't admitting it as she ran her hand through his hair. "Roger and Bette have Alex's service set for tomorrow at ten am." Resting his hand on her knee, he wondered. "Think you'll be feeling better by then?"

Olivia's smile was nervous. "I don't know what you mean."

"Of course not." He looked up into her eyes, watching that guilty looked she hd when she lied to him. "I've some things to do in the study, come keep me company."

Taking her tea with one hand, he started to help her up with the other. Gregory had to set her tea down in a hurry when she swayed on her feet. He caught her arms with both hands, waiting for her to steady herself.

"Vertigo?" He asked playfully as he picked up her tea.

"Just got a little dizzy." She explained weakly as she followed him to the study. "Must have just stood up too quickly." Gregory settled her on the sofa in the study and instead of heading of to his desk, he sat down next to her.

"That must be it." He agreed, joining her denial. He could wait, he knew her history with pregnancy. If his plotting had worked, they'd both know very soon.

When she realized he wasn't leaving, Olivia snuggled into his chest. She was cold, even in the pleasant afternoon sun. "Alex didn't leave Caitlin anything." She remarked after a long pause. "Why do you think she did that?"

"Maybe she didn't have anything appropriate. Cate's always been ladylike and you know Alex." Gregory kissed her head and she almost laughed, throughly comforted by his arms.

"I don't think I remember seeing her in a dress. Even for our wedding."

Gregory played with her rings, sliding her engagement ring on and off her finger. "The only person I remember in a dress at our wedding is you Liv."

Surprised at his sudden sweetness, she sat up to kiss his cheek. "All I remember is you waiting for me. How that aisle went on and on forever, but I knew I was going to get to the end because you were waiting for me."


	39. grief

When sleep eluded him, Olivia was already awake. Grief kpet odd hours and Olivia was returning to bed from the bathroom. When she sat down, he surprised her by sitting up behind her. "I thought you'd sleep better tonight after last night."

Olivia's shock gave way to gratitude. Crying alone was much more depressing. "I've been having these dreams." She admitted, turning in bed to face him. "I know it silly to let them bother me."

"It's not silly." Brushing his thumb gently over the puffy skin beneath her eye, Gregory wished he could take it away. "What happens?" He asked gently, feeling her rest er hands on his arms. He loved it when she clung to him, the strength that coursed through him when they touched was something unique to her. He never felt that power without her.

"Alex saved me from Cole." Her fingers trembled against his arm. "When he was in our bedroom with me, she broke through the door." Olivia bit her lip, and he would have given anything to quiet her dreams. Her voice steadily lost control, wavering more as she continued. "But in my dream- she nevers comes. Cole wraps his fingers around my neck and no one comes." One hand wiped new tears from her face. "And I feel so selfish- so stupid because I wake up crying- and I'm not crying because Alex is gone. I'm terrified because she's not here to save me."

Gregory ran his hand over her head, letting her cry herself out into his chest. "It's not selfish to miss her." He was almost envious of the eventually calm she'd have when he tears stopped. That was her great advantage over him. Olivia felt her pain, live it and in doing, beat it. His own wounds just seemed to fester, growing deeper as time passed them on. "If anything, it was selfish of Alex to leave us."

That drew a weak smile Olivia let him lie them back down. "What do you think she's doing right now?" She wondered as she gazed up at their ceiling.

"Watching us, taking more photographs with that perfect new camera- the one she's been waiting for all her life." Gregory pulled the blankets up over her shoulder. " One that actually does the world justice."

Pulling closer, she rested her head on his chest. "She gave us Italy. Did you even know she owned property there?"

"No." Gregory idly played with the shoulder strap of her nightgown. "I had no idea, but now that we've got it. We should spend some time there, when all this is done with."

Olivia propped herself up on her elbow, looking through the brown of his eyes for something only she knew. Finding it exactly where she looked, she kissed him deeply enough to brush against his soul. "I love you." Was her only explaination as they broke away. Gregory traced her lips lazily with his fingers. "Darling you're much more romantic then you pretend to be."

He shook his head no, smiling thoughtfully. "It's an act."

Olivia started to laugh, brightening the darkness of their room, and his attention went to the clevage of her nightgown, the cream colored skin framed n the dark blue satin of her nightgown. Her breasts swelled out of the fabric, full and tempting. He wanted to take them in his hands and knead them like fresh bread dough. He winced inwardly at the scolding she'd give him for the thought. They'd still be sore.

Her expression turned quizzical as she tried to figure out what he ws thinking. She started to laugh harder when she found where his attention was focused. "You don't want to go back to sleep, do you?"

Gregory ran the tip of his little finger down her neck from the tip of her chin. "Maybe I don't." He slipped out from under her, following the line of his finger with his lips. He could feel the breath fluttered in her throat.

"Darling, it's the middle of the night." Her protesting became weaker as he removed one strap of her nightgown from her shoulder. Gregory explored the entire area of neewly bare skin before rising to look at her eyes. So much passion could be held in those eyes. His hand stayed busy, freeing the other shoulder from her nightgown. "You'll sleep better."

The hunger in his eyes was arousing even without his steadily encroaching touch. It was something special to have someone look at her as if the sun rose and set in her eyes. Gregory did have a point. Letting him wear her out now might keep the demons away until morning. Knowing Gregory was there was the best deterent to Cole St. John she could possibly have.

"I just might." She whsipered back, biting her lip as he found tender skin beneath her neckline. Olivia lay back into the pillows, reaching for him and the buttons of his pajama shirt. "You can give me something worth dreaming about."

Gregory smiled proudly at his son and the Ethan. "You look good in a suit Sean. Really good." He couldn't help trying to picture him the way he would be years from now, after he'd finished school he was going to make a fine doctor. He had his mother's empathy.

"Thanks." Sean replied, suddenly shy under his father's praise. "Just wish it was under better circumstances."

Checking the kitchen clock told him he needed to head back upstairs. "I'm going to go get your mother ready. If we're not down by nine, just go one without us. We'll meet you at the church."

Nodding, Sean touched his dad's shoulder. "Take good care of mom."

"Always." Gregory replied softly as he left the kitchen with the tea and biscuits he came down for. Back upstairs, he sighed as he opened the door. "Liv- we really need to get going-" He chided as he entered the bedroom, but in the short time he had been downstairs, she had already gotten up and dressed. Her dark hair was up in a simple knot and she wore the simple deep purle uit that he had bought her as a gift when they come home from Wisconsin.

He set the tea tray on the bed next to her. "Never mind." He touched her shoulder, trying to read her face. "That was fast."

Olivia looked from her breakfast to him miserably. "Wasn't sure I'd finish if I didn't hurry."

"I thought you weren't going to be 'seasick' once we landed." Gregory's remark earned a weak smile.

Olivia lowered her eyes to the bed. "It's just my head."

He sat down on the bed with the tray between them. "What's wrong with your head sweetheart?" Pouring the tea from the silver teapot filled the room with the spicy smell of ginger. "Roger said you should try to drink this."

"And if Roger says-" Wincing, Olivia closed her eyes and rubbed her temples for a moment before taking the tea from him.

"He'll be proud of you, and I'll get in less trouble." Gregory teased switching his position to sit behind her. "I'm glad you aren't 'seasick'." He let her hands fall to her lap. Running his finges in slow circles over her temples as he took over.

"It must be some kind of bug, or not getting enough sleep." Gregory resisted the temptation to correct her. If Olivia wanted to ignore the obvious, that was her perogative. Thankfully, she couldn't see the small grin on his face. He remembered her headaches, the dizzy haze that made it so hard for her to concentrate. Those headaches were from that tragic second pregnancy, and the more he remembered about that time the less he wanted to make her think about it.

At the time heacaches seemed a welcome trade from the terrible nausea she'd suffered when pregnant with Caitlin. Most of Caitlin's teeth were in by then, and she was walking. Gregory took split shifts, working in the early mornings at the office and late into the night at home. That let him be home during the day when Olivia needed help with Caitlin. He had many bittersweet memories of sitting on the couch with Olivia lying across his lap, watching Cate play with her toys at their feet.

Life was perfect then, untouchable and serene.

Gregory's mind took a sharp turn around a dark corner. Olivia lying on the floor, still and covered in blood. Her blood on his hands, on the seat of the car, on his jacket.

He forced his mind back to the present, pushing that nightmare into the past where it belonged. He looked at his watch, nine was fast approaching. "We have to go."

Olivia shifted on the bed, finishing one of the plain biscuits Roger sent up for her. Gregory checked his own appearance in the mirror, black suit, gray linen shirt and a lavender tie Olivia had picked out for him. She dabbed at her eyes with the maroon cloth napkin from the tray as she stood up. "Do you have to be a pallbearer darling?"

Gregory got her purse and hung it over her shoulder. "No, no, Casey got Ben Evans instead." He slipped his arm around her lower back.

"I thought he asked you." Olivia asked him again.

He kissed her cheek as he led her to the door. "He did."

Now she looked at him suspiciously as they headed down the stairs together. "But you said no."

Gregory opened the front door, locking it behind them. "I said I would be honored, but-"

"What?" She stopped him in the garage. His eyes had that softness to them that melted her heart. "Darling..." She cajoled, refusing to let him off the hook without an answer.

"I needed to sit with you." He took her hand and heled it, staring at the delicate bones of her fingers. "I know how you are at funerals, weddings too for that matter."

Olivia straightened his tie. "I'd rather be going to a wedding."

"Maybe next time." Leaning in close to her ear, he whispered secretively. "Casey and his new girlfied seem pretty close."

Olivia rested her head on his shoulder as Time pulled out of the driveway. "Do you think he's going to propose?"

He continued his study of her hand, marveling at how much emotion could be conveyed in the simple movements of her fingers. "I remember looking at a woman that way."

When she remained silent for awhile, he touched her face, surprised to find it already damp with tears. He reached into his suit pocket for his handkerchief. He had expected to at least get to the church before she needed it. "What is it Liv?"

"If Casey gets married, Alex won't be there. I can't imagine not being able to see Sean or Cait get married. And poor Casey," Olivia continued, unfolding his handkerchief. "He's all alone. if something happened to either of us, Sean and Cait would still have each other."

"He's going to be all right." There was a certain irony in the fact that he was only optomistic around Olivia.

When they pulled up at the church, they were almost late. The soft morning rain, surprising for a California summer, was cool. Bette was hugging Sean by the front of the church. She caught their hands, taking Olivia to her seat. Gregory followed a step behind, not wanting to let Olivia out of his sight.

Caitlin was later even then her parents. The alarm in Cole's tiny arpartment wasn't especially reliable. She slipped in next to Bette as the service started. "Good timing Beauty." Bette whispered as the organ started in the back of the church.

"Alarm didn't go off." Caitlin offered by way of apology. "Were my parents worried?"

Bette shook her head slightly. "They just got here too." She tilted her head confidentially. "They both took Alex's death pretty hard. Livie's been crying, but you know your father. He'll never admit it." She studied Caitlin's face thoughtfully, mindful of Alex's warning. Maybe Alex had been right to suspect her. There was something odd in Caitlin's reactions.

Admittedly Cate and Olivia had never been close, but the complete lack of concern in her face was unusual. Not until she mentioned Gregory was there any stirring of emotion. Bette remembered Roger's account of his talk with Cate. Apparently she was having some trouble with Gregory's recent shift of focus. Even Bette had to admit he was being a model husband lately. That theif St,. John had brought out some of the best in Gregory. Olivia was undeniably his.

Father Antonio took his place behind the altar, welcoming them on this terrible day. Bette took Caitlin's hand and was relieved when the young woman held on. There was enough of Gregory in her to make her incredibly dangerous if she was cornered. If she could still reach out, to Roger, to Sean- to someone, there was still hope.


	40. three minutes

The chapel was usually sweet, small and cozy when the sunlight poured through the western windows, but today it was gray with weak light from the fog. As if even the ocean was in mourning. Though it was full of people, the chapel was unnaturally quiet, as if no one in the assembled crowd could find the words to speak. People were crowded into the back of the church, those who came late standing up, forming a line of dark clothing that encircled the pews.

Sean looked over the faces surrounding him from his position as pallbearer. Roger was on his right, he was still crying, but unlike his father, he seemed to have no shame showing it. He patted Sean on the back, clasping his shoulder and giving him a half smile as he wiped his eyes with his handkerchief. Ethan was on his left, quiet and composed in his dark suit. Sean reached out and took his hand, holding it for a moment before Ethan pulled him in to hug him.

He couldn't help liking the Baxter family. Roger was always making his parents laugh, so few people could do that, and Ethan was a friend. Someone who actually understood what it was like to grow up with parents that everyone knew and looked up too regardless of what they were really like. They had connected immediately, each knowing the burden of living up to a legacy. Michael, Mark, and Ben Evans were the other pallbearers. He knew Casey had asked his dad too, knowing that Alex had been one of his oldest friends. But Gregory had declined and Ben took his place. Sean still wasn't really sure why.

Caitlin was crying as the music from the organ echoed out from the pipes in the back of the chapel. Bette was next to her, uncharacteristically dressed in black and dabbing at her eyes with her handkerchief.

"It's going to be one of those funerals where no one can wear makeup cutie," she had explained when she found him before the service. "Alex was just that special to all of us. And too young. Far too young." Then she hugged him. Sean was certain he had been hugged more today then the rest of the last few years. Everyone was touching each other, clinging to each other because they had been reminded how fragile their own lives were.

Casey stood next to Father Antonio, he still looked stunned. As if all of it was a horrible dream that he would wake up from at any moment. He hadn't been Casey after his mother died. The joy and confidence was gone from his face, as if his inner sunlight had been clouded out. The Father had a hand on Casey's shoulder, reminding him that life was still out there for him without saying a word. He couldn't imagine loosing his mother. Watching her fall to cancer in just a few short weeks like that. Alex had been so alive and then she was gone.

Olivia didn't have Alex's strength, making her seem all the more precious to her son. She hadn't taken her face out of Gregory's shoulder since the service began. Maybe that was why his father had passed on the position as pallbearer. He had known Olivia would need him. His arm was around her and Sean felt better knowing she was safe. Just months ago, he wouldn't have trusted her to his father. It was a testament to how much Gregory had changed that now Sean wouldn't have trusted her to anyone else. She needed his father to be strong for her, and Gregory needed her to cry. Mom had a way of expressing the feelings dad couldn't let out. Maybe that was love for them.

Now a lone violin filled the chapel with sound, rich and full but full of bittersweet goodbye. Sean didn't know the tune, but Roger leaned forward to whisper to him. "Ashokan Farewell, Alex requested this in her will. I've always thought it was a beautiful song." Sean turned back to the coffin, taking his corner of the pale blue silk that covered it. They folded it neatly, military fashion into a triangle. Roger stepped forward to hand it to Casey as the fiddle was joined by a guitar. When Roger returned it was time to bear the coffin out of the church, back to the hearse that would carry her to the cemetery.

Sean stepped into his place, turning forward to the crowd in time to see his mother get up and hurry towards the back of the church. Dad was a step behind her, catching up and making her safe in his arms before they disappeared into a back hallway. As he lifted up the coffin with the others, he hoped she was all right. Bette had mentioned her feeling sick again this morning, but Gregory would take care of her. Sean trusted that.

* * *

Olivia dropped her purse as soon as she reached the bathroom, the clasp falling open and spilling the contents all over the stone floor. Gregory kept her from hitting the floor too quickly, guiding her and catching her shoulders. She had hoped to make it through the service without vomiting again, but her will had lost out to the rebellion of her stomach. He kept his hands on her shoulders, letting her decide when it was safe to lean back from the toilet. "Oh sweetheart…you were doing so well." He observed sympathetically.

Retching miserably, Olivia wasn't sure if the tears on her face were from being ill, or the sorrow of the funeral. She was letting Alex down, missing the end of the service to throw up in the bathroom. Worst of all, Gregory was missing it too and all because she couldn't control her own body. His hands left her shoulders, returning after a moment with his cool, wet handkerchief.

He started with her eyes, taking the tears away before cleaning the fluid from her mouth. "It's all right sweetheart." He promised as he helped her to sit on the floor, back against the wall. "You're all right now Liv."

She couldn't help noticing that his pants were dusty from the floor. His hands were warm and comforting as they chased her nausea away. "Rinse and spit." He ordered firmly, pressing the paper cup to her lips. Gregory had to keep her trembling fingers in line as she followed his orders, spitting the water and the terrible taste back into the cup. "That's a good girl."

"I'm sorry." Olivia managed to whisper finally. "You should be out there, watching the service."

Gregory disagreed as he kissed her forehead. "The service will continue without me. Alex wouldn't forgive me if I left you alone."

Mentioning Alex brought a renewed burst of tears from her already swollen eyes. Gregory hushed her, kneeling in front of her and holding her close to his heart until the new torrent started to abate. "I can't believe she's gone." Olivia choked out. "She was just at the ball, smiling, beautiful. Oh darling, how can this be happening?"

He didn't have an answer, not even for his own pain. It would have to be enough that he was here. For Olivia, it seemed to be, as she slowly quieted down. Her fingers found his hands and held on. Gregory's hands were always so warm in contrast to her cool ones. Keeping her close with one arm, Gregory started retrieving the lost items from her purse. Lipstick, house keys, sunglasses, even her cellular phone, all of it had been scattered when she dropped it.

Leaning forward, he caught the purse itself and pulled it up towards him to replace the contents. It was there, on the bottom of her purse, mocking him because they had both forgotten about it. He dropped her things back into the purse, but caught thin plastic with his fingers and pulled it out. "We were going to take this a few days ago, weren't we?"

Olivia nodded, her chin still trembling. "Right before the hospital called. I completely forgot I even had it in my purse."

Gregory tapped his fingers on the pregnancy test thoughtfully. "Maybe we should take it. Your symptoms certainly haven't gone away."

Struggling up from the floor, she took a few tentative steps before catching the counter for support. "We can't do it now." Olivia insisted weakly as she turned back to face him. "This isn't the place."

"Where else?" He asked softly, a tiny bit of joy creeping into his haunted brown eyes. "Alex would understand. She knew we were trying-" He embraced his wife, feeling the breath catch in her chest. "Remember how she was teasing you?"

Olivia nodded, resting safely in his arms as she ran out of tears. "She thinks I'm cute when I'm pregnant." Finding some strength in her indignance, she disagreed firmly. "I look like hell when I'm pregnant. Everyone knows that."

"Hell is in the eye of the beholder Liv." Gregory's smile was almost enough to make her find new tears as he pressed the pregnancy test into her hand. "It just takes a few minutes doesn't it? Maybe we'll salvage something about this terrible day."

Olivia tried to give it back to him, but he folded her fingers over it firmly.

"For me." He cupped her chin and tilted her face up to his. "Please."

"What if it comes out negative?" Her bottom lip shook slightly and she tried to break eye contact. "I don't think either of us could handle that kind of disappointment today."

"Why are you so convinced it'll be negative?" Gregory's fingers caressed her neck, feeling her pulse race beneath his fingertips. "Not even you could 'just have the flu' for this long."

"There are other things that could make me nauseous Gregory." Turning away from him, Olivia studied her reflection in the mirror with mild disgust. "It could just be stress. There's been a lot going on lately." She made her excuses weakly, wetting her fingertips and brushing stray pieces of hair back into the tight twist on the back of her head.

"Let me." Gregory pulled her hands away, taking over with steadier fingers. "Close your eyes." He requested gently, rinsing out his handkerchief and taking it to her face gently. "Maybe you're right. It was all useless, especially those three days you spent in bed with those horrible fertility drugs-"

Olivia's eyes snapped open in surprise. "How do you know about that?" She demanded as Gregory smiled at her knowingly. "Did Roger?"

"Hold still." He shut her eyes again with his hands. "It's going to be nearly impossible to make you look human again if you won't hold still Olivia." The reprimand in his voice was gentle, almost amused. She had gone to so much trouble for him. The injections had made her completely miserable, but instead of blaming him for wanting a child, she had tried to hide her suffering.

"Roger didn't tell me." Gregory wondered again just what she would do if she learned about her first round of fertility drugs. "I never would have let you take them." And he wouldn't have. He had seen the fear in her eyes when her weakness overtook her. He couldn't have asked her to do that again. His guilt wouldn't have let him. "Your other accomplice confessed."

He had to pause and find his way past the knot in his chest. "Alex thought I needed to know just how much you wanted to make me happy and once I knew where to look, I found the needles in the garbage by the bed."

Olivia made a face as she remembered how nervous the injections had made her, and he chuckled as he ran his fingers along the line of her cheek. "I admire you Liv. I don't think I could have given myself those shots in your place. Not if I had known how wretchedly ill they were going to make me." He admitted as he let her look at her reflection again.

"I didn't know it was going to be as bad as it was." She confessed in return as she studied the paleness of her face in the mirror. The improvement was slight, but her appearance recovered hundred times more when she managed to smile. "Alex volunteered to help me. She understood what it was to love you-" After all, she was the other person in the world who had known what it was to love Gregory Richards, and she had given that up so Olivia could have him. Now, with Gregory's hands cupping her face and his feelings for her naked in his eyes, she wasn't sure if she would have been able to give him up if their positions were reversed.

"I made her promise not to tell you-" She continued, the words falling together easily now that they were both being so honest. "I wouldn't even have asked her, but she insisted that all the dammed chemotherapy treatments had given her a lot of practice with needles."

Gregory's eyes stung as he caressed the side of her face. He remembered them both hiding Olivia's injections from him. Alex comforting Olivia, sharing her resolve to give him a baby. Failing to speak, he just kept touching her, taking his comfort in the softness of her skin.

Olivia found her voice after she took a deep breath. "She thought we were, our foolishness about having a baby, one of the most romantic things she had ever seen. We have such beautiful children; why not try for another one?" And they did, Caitlin and Sean were wonderful, amazing human beings.

Now that they were alone, and he no longer had an appearance to maintain, he could let himself cry. Olivia reached for him this time, starting to realize just how completely she possessed him. How different things between them had become once he wanted her again. When Gregory looked up from her shoulder, tears had escaped his control. Without speaking she kissed him, taking the pregnancy test and locking herself in the bathroom stall.

He put his face in his hands and sighed heavily, feeling his whole body shudder. Picturing the light Alex brought into a room when she smiled only made the dull ache in his heart sharpen. The world was a cruel, truly sadistic place. The world had Cole St. John. Olivia's pregnancy would just put another person he loved in the line of fire. Suddenly Gregory didn't want to know. It was better that they ignored her symptoms, just as she had been doing all along.

He looked up from his hands, ready to call her back and admit he was wrong to push her into the idea, but Olivia was already setting it on the sink. Washing her hands and looking at him with a new sense of serenity. "Darling, can you time three minutes? I didn't put my watch on this morning."

Gregory hit the tiny gold button on the side of his watch and watched the tiny black hand tick off his future, one second at a time. She sounded so calm, like they were just waiting for something in the kitchen at home. Envious of her quiet reserve of strength, he watched her silently as she dried off her hands. "Good thing I remembered to wear mine."

Olivia returned to him, wrapping his arms around her stomach, resting her head back on his shoulder as they both determinedly kept their backs to the test on the counter. Undoing the clasp and removing his watch from his wrist, she covered the face of his watch in her hands. "Watching the hands go round makes them seem slower."

He agreed as he kissed the soft lilac scent in her hair. "What if my watch stops?"

"Then we'll have to start counting." She answered impishly, finding the humor to tease him. "I don't think you've ever looked this nervous Gregory." All the ways up from his fingers, his muscles were tight and even his face was tense. "Where's that law school calm of yours?"

"I forgot to put it on this morning." Gregory replied quietly as she realized that his fingers were the ones trembling now. "It was right there on the table next to your watch-"

Olivia peaked at the hands on his watch, careful not to let him see through her fingers. Two minutes and forty seconds. She let his hands rub gently over her stomach and waited in silence, feeling even the air around them grow heavy with impatience. Discovering Gregory's hands were sweating made her start to giggle. "You're nervous." She observed, remembering his hands being cold with sweat when he proposed. "I'd almost forgotten you can even get nervous."

Fidgeting with the buttons on her jacket, he leaned back against the counter and forced himself not to turn around and watch the test develop. As if he could oblige it to come out the way he wanted just by glaring at it. "I am." He admitted finally, squeezing her just a bit tighter. "I've never done this before."

Surprised, Olivia turned her head back to study him as she tried to remember how she had told him she was pregnant before. "You haven't." She repeated softly, watching the hand of his watch pass the nine. Two minutes, twenty-five seconds. "I never told you until I was sure."

"You waited just like this, by yourself, two–"He paused, wincing as he corrected himself, "No - three times?" New admiration softened the tension in his body and she snuggled back into him, relishing the intimacy of the moment.

"It used to take longer. Ten minutes instead of three." She explained as the humor of the situation started to reach her. "And tests back then were barely accurate, I never knew for sure until I went to the doctor. Compared to the horror of sitting in that tiny little room by myself, waiting for the results of a blood test, this is nothing."

Feeling the air slide out of his chest as Gregory sighed; Olivia peaked through her fingers at the watch again. One minute, fifty seconds. He fidgeted with her jacket again, slipping his hands inside to caress her stomach through her shirt and wondering if it really was their child causing all this trouble. If her lingering nausea and the dizzy spells that made it so hard for her to concentrate were actually the symptoms of pregnancy he had believed them to be for so long. "This is hardly 'nothing' Olivia."

When she concentrated, she could almost hear his heart pounding. It was deeply amusing to see him so far out of his element. Gregory flustered was something that happened so rarely. She had to enjoy it while it lasted. "Well that was unfair of me, wasn't it darling? I've left you completely unprepared for this kind of waiting. I really can't blame you for being nervous then, can I?"

Wondering where her sudden change of heart had come from, Gregory wished he could see her face. "Aren't you?"

Helplessly amused by her husband's new introduction to the situation, Olivia kept giggling and that only made him more agitated. "Not nearly as much as you are," she replied as she peered down at his watch again. One minute ticked past. "I really don't think I've ever seen you like this." Turning around in his arms to face him, she found wicked pleasure in the apprehension in his eyes.

"Besides, you know I just get sick to my stomach when I'm nervous, and we've already dealt with that." He had to agree. Olivia was past any type of nervous state for her and she continued to enjoy the way the tables had turned on him. "Really darling, you can face a courtroom full of people and defend a murderer without batting an eye, but one little pregnancy test has your hands shaking like leaves." Gregory impatiently tried to look at his watch, but she pulled it away, hiding it behind her back.

"This is different Olivia." Gregory insisted, pushing off from the counter and pacing the tiny bathroom. "This is you." He put his hands in his pockets and took them out again anxiously, still pacing like a caged tiger.

"Everything is different when it's you." Fighting with himself, he ran a hand through his hair, tearing it out of place. "Don't you see that?" Pointing wildly at the door, he caught her by the elbow. "The whole world could fall apart out there and all I'd be thinking about is you."

All her amusement faded away as the hand of his watch ticked past the twelve. Looking from it to her husband, Olivia set the watch down on the counter next to the pregnancy test and gave him her full attention. "That's a frightening thing isn't it?" She finished for him as she cupped his cheek with her hand. "When you look at someone and know, really know that as long as they're here, nothing else matters."

Tracing her lips with one finger, Gregory nodded and felt his anger fade away. "And you're right here."

Distracting him as she kissed him, Olivia stole the pregnancy test from the counter and held it behind his head to read it. Breaking the kiss as soon as he realized what she was doing, Gregory brought her hand around to look. He stared at it blankly for a second, falling halfway between laughter and tears. "I don't know what this means." He held it up to her, shaking his head dumbly. "I have no idea."

Weeping again, Olivia hugged him, nearly knocking him entirely off balance. "Oh darling, that's positive. We're pregnant. Oh god, we're pregnant."

Gregory knew the world was coming to an end right there as he instinctually returned her embrace. All his plotting, his manipulations, his betrayal of her trust, all of it had come to an end with their baby. All the wrongs, all the pain in the world couldn't hold a candle to his elation as he rested his hand on her stomach. Their baby, their future, the sum total of all his hopes was right there, beneath the flesh of the woman he loved. When he kissed her, sobbing with joy as he tasted the peace of her sweetness, he didn't have to believe in love or perfection. Because he knew them both.


	41. in the rain

Sometime during the pocession, her parents had disappeared. Caitlin turned to look for them and got pulled into a warm hug.

Bette was still wiping her eyes with a pink silk handkerchief. "Beautiful service wasn't it?"

Caitlin nodded without hearing what Bete was saying, distracted by the abscence of her parents. "Where did mom and dad go?"

Searching the area, Bette didn't see anything of them. She thought for a moment and sighed, "Bathroom." Patting Caitlin's hand she explained as kindly as she could. "You know your mother hasn't been feeling well lately. Your parents have been talking about fitting her into Roger's schedule, so they're taking care of her."

Caitlin looked innocent, hoping to glean some information from Bette beyond what she knew. "What's wrong with mom?"

"Nothing serious Beauty, she's probably just picked something up. Been rundown lately with everything that's going on." Bette watched Caitlin's face darken slightly as she blew her off. The naivite was an act, as Roger suspected. "I wouldn't worry your pretty little head about it."

Roger waved at her from the front of the chapel. "Are you riding over with Roger and I?"

Caitlin could tell Bette was being purposely vague and riding over to the cemetary with her and Roger wasn't likely to get her any answers. If she waited she could force her parents to take her. It had been awhile since she had been with the two of them. Surely they would still be honest with her. "No, I think I'll wait for mom and dad. I love daddy's stories about Alex." She headed for the back of the church, crossing her arms impatiently as she waited by the bathroom door. Five minutes, then ten passed and her parents showed no sign of emerging from the bathroom.

Her father was somewhere else. He didn't have any reason to follow her into the bathroom. If Olivia was in there alone she would had the chance to confront her she'd been waiting for. Caitlin headed for the bathroom door.

* * *

"We're going to have a baby." Grgory repeated again, chuckling as he nuzzled her neck.

Olivia didn't want to leave the bathroom. Right now it was their sanctuary from the world, and until they faced what was outside she didn't have to think about what Cole St. John was going to try to do to her baby. It would have to be a secret, something just between the two of them until they knew what to do to protect the baby from that monster. "Darling, we can't tell anyone."

Gregory took one last look at the pregnancy before slipping it into his jacket pocket. "No, we can't. If it gets out, that bastard will-" Clenching his jaw, he release her for a moment, pacing the bathroom. "We'll get you an appointment with Roger tomorrow. We know we can trust him."

"He's going to have to come up with a cover story." Olivia added as Gregory came back to her, even with the terrible weight on his shoulders, he was still smiling. He was adorable when he was this happy. He put his hands on her waist, looking at her stomach instead of her face. "People other then you are going to start asking questions if I don't start to 'get better' soon."

Impulsively kissing her, Gregory continued to smile, giddy with joy. "Roger didn't spend all that time in medical school for nothing. He'll come up with something reasonable. We should tell Bette too- if nothing else, she's good at distractions."

That brought a giggle from Olivia as she agreed, leaning against his shoulder. "She is. She really is. And we trust both of them."

"We can't tell the kids." Gregory began softly, knowing how worried Sean was about his mother already. He didn't get to finish his thought as Caitlin burst into the bathroom.

She studied them both, looking incredibly suspicious. "I was wondering where you had gotten to." As she expected, they both looked rather embarassed. They didn't break apart, her father's move to wrap his arms around her mother nearly made her sick.

Something was different. Something had changed because her father was smiling. Not just smiling, but grinning like a little boy who had been just set free on holidays. Olivia looked caught between laughing and crying. Gregory's hands were on her shoulders posessively, as if she needed to be protected from the world.

Olivia started to feel guilty as her daughter's gaze bored into her. She started to speak, but Gregory interjected. "Sorry Caitlin. We didn't realize you were waiting for us."

"Because children would never want to wait for their parents." Caitlin snapped back, smiling even though her words were bitter. "And keeping secrets from me too. Just what are you talking about in here?"

Gregory looked at Olivia for a moment, then he smiled apologetically, almost bringing himself to blush. "We're taking the boat out again next weekend. Just the two of us. I know it might seem foolish to you but sometimes it's fun for your parents to keep a secret or two from their kids. Steal a little romance."

She looked unconvinced, and Olivia backed Gregory up. "We're just being silly darling. I apologize. It's just been a really long week for us."

"We needed some time alone." Gregory continued, collecting Olivia's purse and starting towards Caitlin. "Especially with your mother not feeling well. The crowd was a little much."

"Can we go now then?" She asked impatiently, not cring to hear them go on anymore. "We're going to miss the procession."

Both of her parents nodded and sheepishly followed her to the car. "Of course Cate."

* * *

The group at the cemetary was small. Most of the people had already paid their respects and Ben was throwing a wake at the Deep. It worked out for the best for Casey. He was tired of trying to talk to everyone who had something to say about his mother He was tired of talking to anyone. Heather attempted to get him to leave the side of the grave, but he couldn't. He couldn't explain to her why he needed to stay. He just put his hands in his pockets and shook his head. "I'm going to stay for awhile."

Heather wasn't sure who to turn to. If he wouldn' t talk to her, she wasn't sure where to put the chances of him talking to anyone else. She folded her arms over her chest, wishing the weather was better. Everyone else stood off to the side slightly, all with umbrellas. She recognized the last remaining faces as she brushed tendrils of wet blonde hair out of her face. She had an umbrella in the car, it wasn't worth it anymore. She was already wet enough for it not to make a difference.

Mrs. Richards left the dry circle beneath the umbrella her husband was holding and stood next to Heather for a moment. "He's just going to stand there."

"Looks like it." The rain made a gentle melody on the taunt fabric of the umbrellas behind them. "I just don't know what to say anymore."

Olivia took a stray piece of dark hair and tucked it back into the wet knot on the back of her head. "Your parents are still alive?"

Heather smiling, knowing how lucky she was. "Yeah, they live back east. Pretty fond of him."

"Who wouldn't be?" Olivia leaned in conspiratorially, surprising the younger woman with the warmth she could put into a smile. "I know I'd be thrilled in my daughter brought someone like Casey home." She watched him stand over the flowers on Alex's coffin for a few more moments and then started towards him without another word.

She exuded such poise as she walked through the rain to Casey. Heather stood and waited, hoping Olivia would know what to say. At first she didn't say anything. She just stood at Casey's shoulder. Eventually, after an eternity Olivia started speaking, she could tell by the movement of her hands, but Heather couldn't hear anything through the rain.

The umbrella over her head surprised her. The man holding the handle put his free hand on her shoulder, ignoring how wet she was. "She'll get through to him." The hand and the umbrella belonged Gregory Richards, the man half the town seemed to see as a cross between a Kaiser and a hero.

Having the rain off her face was nice. "It would take magic to get through to him now."

Gregory pulled a neat linen handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to her chivalrously. It was monogrammed, the entwined dark red GR made of silk thread. "Here." The quiet smile on his face suggested he knew more then he was saying. "Olivia has her own kind of magic."

"It was raining when my father died too." Olivia's voice held as wisdom as old as the rain around them. "Much colder then this though. I must have stood over my father's grave for hours, as my hands and feet went numb. Hoping somehow if I stared long enough, it would all just go away. Fade into the nightmare I knew it was. A nightmare I could wake up from." There was a victory in the way he didn't pull away when she put her hand on his arm.

"I know it feels like you're dead too. I can't tell you you'll stop missing her- because you never do. That pain doesn't go away because the hole in your heart never goes away." Olivia recognized Alex in the stoic expression on his face.

"I still talk to my father, and he died-" She had to pause and think. "Twenty five years ago. But I know, where ever he is, he still hears me."

Casey moved his foot in the wet grass, watching the mud move out of the way of his shoe. "Does it make you feel better?"

The heavy knot of wet hair on the back of her head was coming undone and snaking down her neck as she shook her head. "Most of the time." She reached into her hair and undid the clip, letting it fall in ropes unto her shoulders as she tucked the clip away in her jacket pocket. "Sometimes I feel that hole in my heart reach up and grab me."

"Then what?" Casey asked softly, as he looked up from the soaking wet ribbons on the flowers over the casket.

Olivia took her hand back from his rubbing them together before crossing her arms over her chest. "Then I just want Gregory to hold me until I move on."

Casey's surprise was a welcome change of expression on his kind face. and he almost smiled when she laughed. "I see Gregory's reputation isn't lost on you. The cold-hearted, jet-set lawyer who would rather eat his children then part with money." She gestured him closer with one hand. "And rumor has it he's very fond of his children."

Shrugging, Casey found he liked the playful light in her eyes. "Sounds about right."

"He'll be pleased." Olivia lowered her arms back to her sides, letting him take her arm. "He's always happy to know his reputation is intact." Glancing back to make sure Gregory was out of earshot, she gestured for him to lower his head to her level.

"Now, what I'm going to tell you is just between us and no one will believe you if you repeat it." For a moment she seemed almost ready to change her mind. "You might not even believe me."

Olivia wrapped her arm tighter around his elbow. "But- I am going to tell you anyway." Pausing for dramatic effect, she successfully brought the spark of interest into his eyes. "Just this morning, Gregory was so nervous that he was babbling like a naughty child." Finding the hint of a smile in his face, she continued. "His hands were trembling."

Casey shook his head. "I don't believe you. I can't think of anything that would make Gregory Richards nervous."

Standing on her tiptoes was difficult in the muddy grass, and Olivia pulled him down with a hand on his tie. "There's one phrase that terrifies any man to the core of his being."

Wiping the rain from his eyes, he waited expectantly.

Olivia's eyes grew bigger, softer then he had ever seen them. "I'm having your baby."

Casey straightened, staring at her with his mouth open. Calmly, Olivia put his hand over her stomach. "Now this is a secret too for a few weeks, but I wanted to ask you early how you felt about babysitting."

Shaking his head, he looked at her, speechless. Olivia gave him the timehe needed to recovery himself. Enjoying the dance of emotions on his face. "You're serious."

Olivia nodded, smiling a little in pride. "That's Gregory's baby under there. Our baby."

"You just told him this morning?" Casey stammered, gamely trying to find the right words. "And now you're telling me?"

The patient smile that lit her face promised that someday, he'd know the answers she did. "I thought you could use some good news. Besides, I really am serious about the babysitting."

Across the cemetary, Heather looked at Gregory with new respect as Casey and Olivia turned towards them in the rainand started walking. "He's smiling."

"What did I tell you?" Gregory teased with pride lighting his eyes. "She has her own kind of magic."


	42. across the street

Roger returned from the lab with a printout in his hands. He hung his white coat over the back of his chair and pulled it up to the computer. As he logged in he turned to his friends and smiled cheerfully. "All right you two. I have lab certified results for you."

Both Gregory and Olivia smiled at him calmly from the other side of his desk. Roger had agreed to use the teaching lab at the hospital to give them a bit more privacy and they had been hiding in his office for the last hour as he ran Olivia's bloodwork with his students. "All tests confirmed you are pregnant. Congratulations loves."

Their faces lit up, but Roger wasn't sure if Gregory was more relieved or terrified. "You're absolutely certain?"

Roger passed the paper over to them, grinning as Gregory took it with his left hand, unwilling to let go of the death grip on had on Olivia with his right. "Completely certain. I used your blood with my advanced microbiology students, eleven different pregnancy tests came back positive."

Olivia mouthed 'eleven' back and him and started laughing as Gregory looked over the sheet. "I guess I can't argue with that."

Tapping at his keyboard, Roger started a new series of printouts from his computer. "Your hormone levels put you eight weeks along. You're in good health overall, red blood cell count, weight, heart rate are all where I'd like them to be. The only note of concern is that your blood pressure is a little lower then I'd like."

"What does that mean?" Olivia wondered as she took the sheet of tests from Gregory.

Roger tapped a pen on his desk. "Physiologically, your blood volume is increasing slower then your body is building its' demand and your heart has to beat faster to keep up. Practically it means you might be a bit dizzy, or even feel faint if you get overstressed. No physical exertion out of the ordinary." He caught Gregory's concerned expression and smiled to ease the tension in the face across from him. "No running, water polo, tennis, basketball with Sean-"

Olivia looked relieved. "As difficult as it's going to be, I think I can avoid all of those things."

"Just be mindful of your limits." Roger ordered, using his professional voice to get her attention. "If you get dizzy, stop doing what you're doing and sit down for awhile. If I hear about you fainting, the riot act will come down."

"Yes Dr. Baxter sir." She saluted mockingly.

He winked at her. "That's a good girl." Roger pulled a calendar out of his desk drawer and flipped through it. "Now, just so you can embarass the poor child in front of his friends when he gets old enough, I'd put date of conception here at the end of June. Right before you went to Wisconsin."

Olivia looked at the floor, blushing slightly. Gregory and Roger shared a gaze over her head, the fertility drugs had been successful on the first try. They'd agreed never to tell her what they had done. Gregory kissed her cheek as Roger scrolled through the calendar. "End of June puts your due date in March, probably around your birthday love."

The calendar grid for months away didn't seem real. "You'd better get me something extroadinary." Olivia teased her husband as Roger pulled his papers from the printer.

Shaking his head, Gregory reached around her arms and put his hand on her stomach. "I've already given you my present. I got you pregnant."

Resting her hand on his chest, Olivia grinned wickedly. "I'm not too sure about that. Alex is the one who spent the night with me when I took those fertility drugs. I think she's the one who really got me knocked up."

Helplessly laughing, Roger put stapled their information, put it in an unmarked folder and set it in front of them. "Olivia does have a point." He pulled the folder back from Gregory's hands and handed it to his wife instead. "Alex has as much claim to Olivia's baby as you do Richards." He leaned forward, resting his hand on the arm of Olivia's chair. "Now love, you don't have to include him if you don't want to. I can have him kicked out of my office if you like."

Roger's green eyes were dancing in amusement. Olivia opened her briefcase without saying anything, tucking her information inside. Making Gregory wait for her beause she loved the look he got in his eyes when she teased him. It excited him, and since lunch was just about over for them, he'd have to spend all afternoon thinking about her. That could be fun. She ran her tongue carefully over her lips. "I think I'll keep him around. Alex would have wanted him involved in her baby's life."

Gregory was really struggling to look serious, and he was losing the battle. Olivia stood up, knowing they had to get back to the office. She took one step before Gregory grabbed her, pulling her down to his lap and folding his arms firmly around her waist. "I'm glad you'll be able to put up with me."

"I'll try." She replied, still giggling as Roger gave them both a stern look.

He handed them a second folder. This one was marked with Olivia's name on a neat medical label. "You'll have to work out the paternity of your baby later. Remember, you're only unofficially pregnant. This folder is your official condition. Olivia you have a latent viral infection. You know you aren't contagious, but I haven't been able to give you a definitive diagnosis."

Gregory interrupted, amused by Roger's solution. "Maybe I should take her to another doctor."

"You could." Roger agreed sarcastically as he took the folder back to add a few notes. "He won't be able to find a virus either. Since Alex isn't around to contradict anyone, and I know she wouldn't mind, I'm blaming her. She must have brought it back from Africa with her, and you were unlucky enough to contract it." He shut the folder and let Gregory tuck it under his arm. "That should keep anyone from being suspicious for another six weeks or so. Once you start to show we are going to have to tell the truth."

He didn't like the nervous look on Olivia's face, or the darkness that took Gregory' s eyes. This Cole character needed to get some kind of divine retribution, and soon. Having a baby should be celebrated, not covered with a folder of lies. "But we'll have to deal with that when we get there. You two run along now, get back to your office and make me some money at Liberty. I'm going back to my students."

Olivia kissed his cheek, deeply grateful to have him in their corner. "Bye, and don't worry, because I forgive you for not being able to cure me of my 'virus'."

"Good." He returned with a wink as he punched Gregory's shoulder playfully. "That makes up for this old codger here. Have a good day you two."

"We will. Thank you again darling."

Cole held up the latest copy of the Sentinel with a new respect for Gregory Richards. "Legendary Deschanel jewels on display at special exhibit of the Sunset Beach historical society. The supposedly cursed collection is on loan from Olivia Richards- whose own life was recently threatened over the gems..." Tossing the paper to the table he smiled cooly at Caitlin. "I guess I underestimated your father. He's going to need to be reminded who he's dealing with."

"Then I have just the way." Reaching down for her backpack, Caitlin pulled out a mass of folded papers. "I got the idea when we were listening to Alex's will. On a hunch, I checked daddy's safe and found a copy of my mother's will." She spread out the papers to remove the creases. "I'll give you two guesses who she leaves the Deschanel jewels too, but I think you won't need more then one."

Cole pounced on the will, scanning through until he found the part Caitlin had highlighted. "Upon her death, you become the sole owner of the jewels."

Caitlin stood up and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Once we have them we can run away together, get married in Monte Carlo, just like we talked about-"

He covered her arms with his hands, smiling as she started kissing his neck. "Have your parents take you to dinner tonight. I'll be waiting for you at Grenadines."

The advertising meeting continued past five. Casey stopped taking notes as it changed from discussion to a prolonged arguement. Drawing on his notes, he decided he much preferred Libery board meetings to these at the radio station. As the owner, Olivia had the final say in all things, but twice a year she had to sit down with some of the worst people Casey had ever met as they argued about money. Eventually they'd vote, and finally reach a consensus. Then they could finally escape.

He admired Olivia's patience. They'd been trapped in the windowless room all afternoon, and she could still keep a smile on her face. When one of the advertising executives misquoted Winston Churchill for the third time, he had to bit his lip to keep from correcting the windbag. Olivia looked up at the clock and interrupted him politely. "I'm afraid we'll have to finish this tomorrow morning. I have a dinner engagement." Most of the executives looked relieved as they filed out. A few grumbled under their breath about being made to waste their time.

"They don't like being told what to do, do they?" Caey asked her under his breath as they picked up their things.

"No, of course not." Olivia snapped her briefcase shut and smiled at him. "But if I didn't end it there, that Bryce Hedgely would have kept going until the janitors came through to clean the room."

Casey opened the car, pausing as he figured out her strategy. "Making them all work around your schedule reminds them you are in charge doesn't it?"

"Exactly." Sighing gratefully, she buckled her seat belt. Olivia pointed out over the ocean. "It's going to be a beautiful night isn't it?"

He glanced over as he started the car. "Looks like it. I love the water when it's quiet."

"Maybe you should take your young lady for a long walk when you get back." Olivia suggested, remembering when Gregory used to walk with her until the stars came out.

Casey turned onto the scenic byway to Ocean Avenue. "No, she's out with her research team until Friday. I'll probably just have pizza with Michael and Mark."

"You should come with us to Grenadines. Caitlin wanted to go out tonight, I'm sure my family would be more then happy to have you along." Olivia pointed towards the road back towards downtown. "Just turn here, I'll call Gregory and have him meet us there." She smiled so earnestly at him, he couldn't say no.

"All right. Thank you for inviting me along." Casey turned down the road towards Grenadines and Olivia turned on her cell phone.

"We'll meet you in twenty minutes then." Gregory lowered his voice as they said goodbye. "I love you too."

Hiding in the study, Caitlin heard every word of her father's conversation. As soon as she heard him hang up the phone she called Cole's cell. She let it ring once, just like they agreed.

Sean peered into the study. "Dad's heading for the car, you ready to go?"

Caitlin tucked her phone into her purse and smiled at her brother. "Yeah, I'm all set. Is mom meeting us there?"

He locked the door as they headed into the garage. "Yeah Casey's coming with us and their meeting ran late, so they'll just meet us."

She could barely contain her excitement as she sat in back behind Sean. She was so close to being free. Cole would wisk her away and they'd live the fairy tale she had been dreaming about all of her life.

Gregory sent Sean and Caitlin in to get a table and stood in front of Grenadines, waiting for Olivia. With the children inside he would even get a moment to whisper to her about the baby. That's what their baby was at the moment, scattered whispers between meetings, talk over the pillows in the dark. It was hard to keep that kind of joy inside of him, he was already planning the party he wanted to throw for Olivia when they were finally free of Cole.

Casey's car pulled into the parking lot across the street. Gregory recognized the green Jaguar as it parked and the doors opened. Like a gentleman, Casey waited for her to get out. Gregory could barely make out her face, but his memory filled in the details. She paused at the edge of the street, waiting for traffic to clear as she shook her hair out of the twist she wore to the office. The dark curls dancing in the wind as they fell to her shoulders.

Olivia saw Gregory waiting for her across the street and she resisted the urge to run to him. She had just seen him that morning, but seeing him again now it felt like years ago. Everything was so perfect right between them right now. As if the heavens had finally decided to give them a few moments peace.

Cole strightened the rifle on his shoulder, activating the laser sight. The red dot was birght on the roof beneath his feet and he moved it to the street across from Grenadines. Through the scope he watched as Olivia let her hair free, shaking her head as it tumbled down. The dot tracked across the car behind her, and then he brought it to her stomach.

Gregory saw the spot of red and thought for a moment she must have spilled somehting on her jacket, but he couldn't think of anything that would stain the chocolate brown of her suit bright red. Then the dot moved.

Cole brought his aim slowly up her body, watching the laser run lovingly over her stomach, then her chest. He took his time as he brought it up her neck, imaging the laser glinting as it brushed her necklace.

Olivia started across the street, trying to figure out what Gregory was staring at on her chest. She looked down, but couldn't see anything. Confused, she looked up just as he realized what the red light was.

It was running over her lips, up her cheek, resting on her forehead. Cole twitched his hand, readying himself to pull the trigger.

Cole pulled the trigger, catching just a flash of the terror in her eyes. Just as he had hoped, Gregory was just feet away from his wife as the gunshot rang out through the evening.

Time stopped for Gregory. The laser sight on her forehead promised to haunt his dreams for the rest of his life. Completely obvious to her own danger, Olivia raised her hand to wave at him. Their eyes locked for eternity as he screamed.

"Olivia get down!"

The sound of the gunshot ripped through his heart as surely as if the bullet had hit him in the chest.


	43. blood

Casey was ready to make a polite exit into the restaurant and allow the Richardses a moment to themselves, but he was only a step behind Olivia as they crossed the street. He had quickly become accoustomed to being Olivia's shadow. In a way it was comforting to be so close to someone who was close to his mother. Not that she was much like Alex, except for the moments when she smiled or teased him. He wondered if he should say something, thank her for being so nice to him.

As he wondered his glance went across Gregory's face and Casey stopped walking when he saw the terror there. What was Gregory looking at? He whirled, trying to catch whatever it was behind him that had Gregory so frightened. There was nothing in the parking lot. Casey's head turned back painfully slowly as he heard the scream.

"Olivia get down!"

In the half-second Casey had to react he finally found what was ripping Gregory's heart out. A tiny red dot of light hung on Olivia's forehead, painting her as a target.

She didn't move. She didn't understand what was going on. She couldn't see the laser. Olivia heard Gregory's scream of terror but she couldn't move. She couldn't do anything. Casey dove, putting his body between her and the line of light as he knocked her to the pavement. As the gun went off, the sound pounding through their ears, she hit the ground hard and everything exploded to black.

The gunshot rang across the parking lot, echoing through the restaurant and cutting off conversations. Sean and Caitlin had just sat down, he was about to ask Caitlin if she wanted the wine list when the question died on his tongue.

Throughout Grenadines, everyone looked at each other, asking each other the same question. Was that actually a shot?

"That sounded like outside." Caitlin looked calm but Sean's heart began to race immediately.

"Our parents are outside." He knocked over his chair as he stood up. Waiting for a second shot, a scream of horror- but there was silence. Too much silence. He ran for the door, crashing into bodies and furniture as he went. Sean tearing through the crowd startled a ripple of excitement. The maitre'd was calling the police on phone at the front. Everyone was standing up, heading out of the restaurant fueled by that morbid curiousity that made it necessary to find out what had happened.

Cole didn't get a chance to examine his target. He would have liked the luxury of a second shot, making sure he had connected before he disappeared. But he could already hear the sirens approaching on the horizon. Failure to kill her could be rectifiied if he was free, but he couldn't be captured. He dropped to his knees, taking the rifle apart and tucking the pieces into his violin case. He pulled off his black mask as he entered the stairs of the building. By the time he reached the ground floor, he looked like a musician on his way to a party.

He couldn't risk entering the crowd. Cole would have to content himself with the vision of Olivia lying still on the pavement, blood pooling around her as Gregory watched, helpless to keep her life from bleeding away. Cole smiled, he would love to have seen the look on his face as the laser caressed her body. It would have been priceless.

Gregory dropped to his knees next to the bodies on the pavement. Casey lay over Olivia, covering her with his body. He could see the entry wound in Casey's shoulder through the gray of his suit coat. He didn't hear himself speaking. Didn't recall the prayers that tumbled from his lips in a desperate whisper as he rolled Casey off of his wife. Casey had a pulse, strong when he touched his neck.

He had to look at her. He had to see her face, but at the same instant he knew if she was dead his life would be over. Casey landed on the pavement next to her, blood soaking the right half of his chest. Olivia was completely saturated with blood. The white shirt under her jacket was plastered to her skin with red.

Her eyes were closed, her head tilted slightly to the side. Except for the blood she could have been asleep. Gregory touched her neck, praying she was still alive. He could keep breathing if she had a pulse. Her neck throbbed under his fingers and he started to sob. She was alive.

Where was the bullet? He had to stop the bleeding. He tore open her jacket, laying bare the white linen, sticking to her skin with blood. His hands slipped in it, fingers sticking together. Gregory ripped her shirt open. Fingers ran desperately over her skin, searching for the source of the blood. The white satin of her bra resisted the stain, glistening against the blood on her chest.

He couldn't find the imperfection. The gaping wound from the bullet. Gregory checked again as the crowd started to grow around him. As he started to realize Olivia was all right, his senses started to return. Strangers were tending to Casey, pressing a towel from the restaurant against his chest. People were starting to come towards him but he pushed them off. No one was allowed to touch her. Not until he knew she was all right. Not until he knew.

Her body was fine. Gregory lowered his hands to her head, hair sticking to the blood on his hands and he examined her skull. Nothing.

Everything about her was intact. He took off his jacket, covering her bare chest with it revently as he pulled her head into his lap. Gregory didn't care who was watching as the tears landed on her face, mxing with blood and running pink down her skin to the street. "Thank you." He whispered to the God he rarely believed in. "Oh thank you, thank you."

Someone touched his shoulder and he was too relieved to push him back again. Sean started speaking and he heard him for the first time. "Dad? Dad is she okay?"

"She's okay Sean. God, she's all right." The sirens were here now, flashing red and blue lights added to the surrealism of the moment. The paramedics came towards Gregory but he pushed them off. "Casey. Get to Casey."

He watched her face, waiting for her eyes to open. Waiting for her to look up at him. Sean was still talking, but he couldn't make himself hear him. Olivia's eyelids twitched and he held his breath. They fluttered, giving him a glimpse of the soft blue beneath. "Come on sweetheart. Open your eyes."

Gregory's face was blurry, as if she were coming up from the bottom of the swimming pool. Her face was wet. Her body was wet, she was cold because she was lying on the ground. How did she get on the ground? She moved her hand, trying to figure out what was over her. She freed her hand from his jacket, and wondered if something was wrong with it because it was covered in blood. Was something wrong with her? Nothing hurt but she wasn't sure if that was because her head was so foggy. What if something was hurt and she just couldn't feel it?

Trying to move her head was a mistake as her vision exploded with a thousand points of light. Something had happened, but she couldn't remember. Had someone yelled at her? Someone else was with her. Had she fallen- no, no someone had knocked her down. Why had they knocked her down?

Gregory took her hand and held it. She could tell he was smiling now and as her eyes got better she realized he was crying. If he was smiling she had to be all right. Her head was starting to ache, but she must be all right. If she was all right he shouldn't be crying. He didn't need to be frightened. "Don't cry darling." Olivia ordered weakly as she tried to swallow. "Don't cry."

"I'll try." He whispered, kissing her fingers as the one of the paramedics came over to them. "It's hard not to when you scare me like that."

"How did I scare you?" She couldn't remember. The nice looking young woman in the blue uniform was talking to Gregory, shining a light in her eyes. They wanted her to get up. The hands around her wanted her to stand up. Someone held her hands as Gregory and the woman, the paramedic helped her to her feet.

Sean, the someone was Sean. He looked worried too. "I already told your father not to cry." She explained to him as he walked with her to the curb. They put a blanket around her shoulders and Olivia looked down at herself. "What happened to my clothes?"

"Dad was making sure you were okay." Sean explained softly as Gregory and the paramedic talked in whispers.

"Why am I all bloody?" Olivia touched her skin, looking at her son with deep confusion. "It's not mine Sean."

He turned and looked at the ambulance. Someone was being shut inside, the sirens coming on again as it speed away towards the hospital. "Casey got between you and the sniper."

Gregory was trying to get her to drink something. Olivia obliged, it was hot and felt good as it warmed her throat. "Is he all right?"

"He's going to the hospital Liv." Phebe Ryan, the paramedic with them nodded to Gregory and they made her stand up again. "So are we."

Olivia wanted to argue that she didn't need to go to the hospital, but her head hurt. Sean talked to Gregory and their voices were hard to concentrate on. She couldn't make out any of the words.

The nice young woman smiled at her as she sat her down on the bench inside the ambulance. "You have a slight concussion. That's why you're having trouble focusing."

Gregory came back, sitting down next to her as they closed the doors on the ambulance. "This is Phebe, Liv. She's going to take care of you."

Olivia pulled her blanket in tighter, if she didn't move her head she could make features on people's faces come in clear. "Are we going to see Casey?"

Phebe nodded, sliding the blood pressure cuff up her arm. "Yes, you'll see him as soon as he gets out of surgery. He looks good, all his vitals were strong. I think he'll pull through surgery beautifully."

Gregory held her head still on his shoulder which helped some with the feeling of being trapped underwater. "He's a very brave young man."

"That he is." Phebe agreed as she took some notes on a clipboard. "I remember him from EMT training. You're lucky he was there." She shone the light in Olivia's eyes again, and she turned her head, trying to get away.

"That's really bright." Olivia complained as Gregory rubbed her forehead.

"Your pupils are reacting slowly because your brain is a little shook up." Phebe explained calmly as she took her pulse at her wrist. "When you fell your head hit the street a little harder then we'd like."

"Oh." Olivia answered as they continued fussing over her. Phebe opened the blanket and started rubbing something over her chest that was rather cold. She dropped it in a red plastic bag and took another cloth to her neck. "Now what are you doing?"

Phebe held up a package of alcohol wipes. "I'm getting the blood off before it dries. It's kind of hard to get off after that. I know they're a little cold, but you'll feel better when you're clean. Gregory can help me if he wants." They pulled the blanket from her shoulders, Gregory took off her jacket and dropped it to the floor of the ambulance. Her white oxford shirt was harder to peel off, the blood had already started to dry and stick to her skin. Olivia winced as they pulled it free.

"It'll be over soon." Gregory promised as he started on her face. "I think you'll feel better with clean clothes on."

Olivia tried to keep her eyes focused on their faces, thinking about the amount of blood they were trying to get off her body was unpleasant. Phebe seemed to realize this, and she kept up a running dialogue with Gregory. Talking about things as mundane as where they went on their last vacation. Both of their voices continued around her, becoming a gentle background as their hands ran all over her skin. The friction of their touch kept her from being cold, but she was deeply grateful when Phebe pulled the blue scrub shirt over her head.

"We'll get you something better to wear after your examination." She promised as they helped her out of the ambulance. Gregory was solid at her side, and she knew without him she wouldn't be able to stay standing.

As they started into the hospital, Olivia caught Phebe's wrist. She didn't want to be examined, they'd need to know about the baby. "Did you get Roger?" She demanded.

"Roger?"

Gregory stepped in quickly, realizing what Olivia was worried about. "Dr. Roger Baxter is Olivia's physician and a personal friend. We'd both appreciate it if you could get him."

Phebe paused, she did want to help them, but she didn't want Olivia's examination to wait in case there was a real problem that hadn't manifested yet. "I'll have the nurse call him, but it would be better if you got examined right away."

Gregory was pulled away to fill out Olivia's admissions paperwork, leaving Phebe to lead her to her examination room. Olivia let Phebe sit her on the table but as the medic started to leave she pleaded. "Please don't go. I don't want to sit here by myself."

Phebe turned around, shutting the door and standing in front of it with a gentle smile. "Okay. I can stay with you until the doctor comes."

Olivia bit her lip, she didn't want a doctor she didn't know. She couldn't trust anyone. "Can't you just examine me?"

Phebe Ryan walked over to the table and put her hand on Olivia's shoulder thoughtfully. "What's wrong with a doctor?"

"I've just been shot at by a man who's trying to kill me." Olivia shivered slightly as she admitted it to herself for the first time. "I can't risk the man responsible knowing my secret"

Phebe looked at her with sympathy. Most gunshot victims she treated were gang members, not society women. Certainly not women from Olivia's part of town. Very few of her patients were as genuinely afraid. "Would you like to tell me and see if I can help you?"

The door opened behind her and Gregory returned from the paperwork at the front desk. He went immediately to her side, taking her hands in his and resting them in her lap. Olivia looked at him for a moment for assurance. She liked the paramedic. She didn't want to deal with anyone else. "I'm pregnant and I don't- we don't want anyone to know."

Phebe turned her surprise into a smile. She couldn't tell anyone about this conversation, not that they'd believe her. It was the first time she'd had people from the front page of the Sentinel ask her for help. "I'll talk to the Margaret, she's ER supervisor. I'm sure she'll let me work something out. Just stay here, I'll be right back."

When she was gone, Gregory looked into her eyes. "You trust her?"

Olivia started to nod, but that made her head feel disconnected. "Yes. She's been kind to me."

Gregory saw the hesitation in her movements, and stepped forward to hold her, letting her rest her head on his shoulder. "I'm so sorry this happened to you Liv."

He was warm and Olivia was suddenly very tired. "I'm okay darling. I want you to go check on Casey as soon as Phebe gets back."

Gregory pulled back from her, immediately hating the idea. "I'm not leaving you Liv."

Her chin was trembling and he knew he wasn't going to be able to say no when she asked again. "I can't check on him. They won't let me leave. He saved my life Gregory. He put himself between me and a bullet. I need to know he's all right."

His fingers held her face steady. "Now who shouldn't be crying?"

Olivia took a shuddering breath and started to sob. "Oh darling...why is this happening? What does he want? Why is he hurting so many people?"

Gregory didn't have any answers, he didn't have an answer for any of this terrible mess. Cole was disrupting every part of their lives, and the more he thought about it, the more Gregory knew there would only be one solution.


	44. failed

Cole had to give the SBPD some credit. They had closed in on the area surrounding Grenadines too quickly for him to get out. He had to leave the rifle in the dumpster behind the restaurant. Knowing it would probably get picked up in the morning, but he couldn't risk getting caught with it. Maybe they were just pathetic enough not to search the area throughly.

As soon as he got home, he turned on the television, if Olivia was dead it would certainly be all over the news. Instead, the reporter was talking about the bravery of a man named Casey. Cole watched a few seconds before he realized what had happened. The big blonde lout Gregory had hired as her assistant had blocked the bullet. Taken the hollow-tipped round in the shoulder that was meant for Olivia's skull.

He took a long look at the picture of Casey they put up on the screen. "You got lucky this time Olivia." It was interesting how the reporters were avoiding mentioning much of why Casey was protecting Olivia. She also hadn't been in any of the interviews. The closest they had been to talking to her was talking to the son, Sean. Gregory must have coached him, because he too was careful mostly to discuss Casey. And how thankful he was Casey was there.

Cole shut off the television as Caitlin arrived. She looked livid, and it gave her a lovely glow. "You didn't tell me your mother was inviting 'Thor' to dinner."

Caitlin flung her purse into a corner and threw herself down on the bed. "She didn't tell me she was."

He reached into the fridge for a beer. "We've lost the rifle too. I had to dump it. Want a beer?"

"We lost the rifle?" She took the beer from his hand, trying to figure out how he could be so calm. "What are we going to do?"

Cole opened his beer and tossed the cap into the open garbage can. "Come up with a new plan."

"That's it?" She demanded, bordering on hysterical. "Just come up with a new plan?"

Shrugging, he settled unto the sofa, flashing his dimples. "Come here." Caitlin sat stiffly next to him while he finished his beer in a long gulp. He set the bottle down and pressed her back as he started kissing her. "You give up too easily."

She wrapped her hands around his head, thinking how romantic it was of him to be so spontaneous. Cole explored her mouth with his tongue, counting on her body to inspire his thoughts.

Bette filled the glass with iced tea from the pitcher turning her head over shoulder to ask, "When is Gregory letting you go back to work?"

Olivia giggled and straightened her chocolate silk robe around her knees. "If it was up to Gregory I might never get to go back. Roger's letting me go back on Thursday."

"Livingston indulges you doesn't he?" Bette flopped back down on the sofa next to her.

Pulling her feet up under her, Olivia rested her chin on her hand. "Roger helps balance out Gregory. He's the voice of reason."

Taking the hem of Olivia's dressing gown and playing with it in her fingers, Bette winked. "Although, considering it's already afternoon and you haven't gotten dressed yet it doesn't seem like you're missing work too much."

"I thought about getting dressed." Olivia began lightly as Bette swirled her ice cubes. "I did- then I realized Gregory would put me to bed as soon as he got home."

"I didn't know you were feeling that much better." Bette replied dryly and Olivia burst into nervous laughter.

"I didn't mean it like that." She hit her shoulder. "You have a dirty mind Bette."

"One woman's trashy is another woman's romantic Livie." She folded her arms across her arms across her magenta suit patiently. "Why does Gregory put you to bed?"

Curling up like a cat in the late afternoon sun, Olivia made a face. "The baby makes me nauseous in the afternoon."

Bette's smile was entirely sympathetic. "Always the afternoon?"

"He's his father's child." Olivia sighed as she tried to ignore the churning of her stomach. "Always living life by the clock on the wall."

"Speaking of that clock, when's your overbearing hubby coming home?" Bette finished her iced tea and eyed her watch.

"Sick of my company already?" Olivia asked sardonically as she pretended to pout.

Bette wrinkled her nose at her, laughing. "As soon as he gets back I can start bugging Livingston to get off work."

"I knew it!" Olivia announced proudly. "I knew you were putting the moves of the dear Dr. Baxter."

Bette smoothed her skirt, looking impervious to her teasing. "He just needs a friend right now."

Olivia started laughing so violently she was almost coughing as she tried to get her breath. "This is from the woman who seduced him in the empty operating room on their first date?"

Fluffing her blonde hair, Bette tilted her head like a beauty queen. "I think the feelings were mutual. Need I remind you of your first liason with Greggy-poo?"

Olivia's cheeks flushed slightly, the color was a nice change from her pale. "No, no. That's all right."

Bette's thoughts became serious, her rekindled feelings for Roger were right on the heels of his bittersweet fling with Alex. "Roger and I are going to work it out. We've got enough of a history to know we're worth waiting for."

Olivia smiled sweetly, she liked to see her friends happy and she worried about Roger. He always ended up with women who left him and he didn't seem to have it in himself to blame them. He just kept smiling. "Roger needs a warm heart like yours."

Clucking her tongue, Bette refused to comment. "Now you're just exaggerating. You are the one with the recent head injury, I think I'm safe disregarding your opinion."

Across the living room the phone started to ring urgently, Bette put a hand on Olivia's knee to keep her from getting up. "I'll get it. You just work on getting that son of Gregory's to leave your stomach alone."

"Casa Richards-" Bette offered brightly as she picked up the phone. "Yes, Olivia's here." She listened for a moment and pressed it to her chest as she walked back over to the sofa. "It's for you dearie."

"Gregory?" Olivia mouthed hopefully, but Bette shook her head.

"A man." She whispered as Olivia held the phone to her ear.

"This is Olivia Richards-"

She didn't get a chance to speak beyond that. The voice on the other end was chillingly familiar. "Don't speak, just listen. Your husband left the office a few minutes ago. He got into his car, the dark gray Jaguar and turned onto Santa Ana Road, just as he has for the last twenty years. He reached the first light and pressed the brakes, just as he does every other day."

Olivia's heart jumped into her throat. Pouding hard enough to make her ears start to ring as she stood up. She tried to say something, but her voice wouldn't respond.

"But today is different, Olivia. Today the brakes failed." The phone line clicked off and she dropped the reciever as it had become a poisonous creature.

Bette jumped up next to her, taking the hand that had dropped the phone. "What is it? Livie what's wrong? Olivia talk to me."

Olivia shook her head, throwing her hands up over her ears to block out the horrible sound of metal tearing against metal. She heard the screech of tires around him, the sickening crunch of the body of the car as it finally came to a stop. "Gregory-" She whispered, choking on his name. The sound of the twisting car frame became a rushing in her head as the living room turned to ice around her. Darkness invaded her vision and quickly slipped through the back of her eyes to swallow her mind.

Gregory slowed down for the gate of the lot at Liberty. The brakes felt a little soft and he made a mental note to drop the car off at the mechanic in the morning. Right now he just wanted to go home. Ricardo still had a car watching the house, and the two officers were only a stone's throw from Olivia at all times. But in his mind an army wouldn't have been enough to keep her safe. Cole St. John had been within a second of killing her. If Casey had been an instant slower. If the bullet hadn't stopped in his chest-

He nearly didn't see the light change to yellow in front of him. Reminding himself to keep his mind on the road he pushed the brakes. Nothing happened. The pedal went all the way to the floor without putting up any resistance. He slammed it down again, feeling the world slide into slow motion.

A car was coming from the left and he pressing his hand into the horn to warn them, he whipped the wheel around, trying to avoid a second car from the right. That presented him with a split second choice. The the red hood of the car that was turning towards him or the sidewalk and the building beyond.

The wheels screeched in agony against the pavement, and it took years for the car to impact against the brick wall of the building. The window exploded inward in a hail of glass as the metal crunched in around the passenger compartment. His wrist bent backwards on the steering wheel as he was jolted sideways. The seat belt clung to him as if it were made of iron, keeping him firmly in his seat.

The airbags exploded, slamming Gregory's head back into the seat as the engine stopped with a shuddering death rattle. Every part of his body was tense, waiting for the next danger- but after the airbag it was quiet. The engine hissed, and he could hear the slow gushing of some fluid from the car.

Tentitively, he raised a hand to his face to check for injuries. The skin on his forehead was abraided by the explosion of the airbag, but everything else seemed intact. He shoved the deflating airbag out of his face and reached for the release on his selt belt. His fingers seemed numb, and he couldn't get the buckle to release. He used both hands and forced it free, tumbling against the door as he did.

The door of the defeated Jagaur creaked open and he tumbled on to the sidewalk. Strangers helped him to his feet, asking if he was hurt.

"I seem to be all right." Gregory told them with a small smile of relief at his luck. "Thank you."

"The police will be here soon, with a fire engine and an amublance." An older woman told him, smiling as she helped brush him off. "I wasn't sure if anyone would walk away from that." Her hand gestured towards the mess that had been his prized car.

His briefcase had been on the floor by the passenger seat. That part of the car was completely crushed in. If it had been Thursday and Olivia was next to him... Gregory couldn't think about that. He refused to even acknowledge what could have happened. He looked over the growing crowd of people. "Does anyone have a cellular phone I could use? Mine was in there." His quiet shake of his head got a few smiles.

A younger business woman handed hers over. "Calling your wife?"

Gregory flipped it open in a rush, watching his fingers dial instead of looking up at her. "How did you know?"

The elderly woman who had first spoken to him tapped his arm gently. "We've seen you in the paper. You and your beauty. So terrible what that bastard is doing to her. You should really see that he gets what he deserves."

"Hush mother." The business woman nudged quickly. "Take all the time you need. Mother and I were just on our way home anyway."

The squads arrived and started directing traffic around away from the street. The ambulance seemed like overkill, but the firetruck looked like they were going to have their hands full with the hazardous fluids leaching out of the crushed convertible. The phone for home rang once, twice and finally Bette answered on the third ring.

"Haven't you done enough you bastard?" Bette's voice was uncharacteristically bitter.

"I don't know what you mean." Gregory replied, slightly startled. "Where's Olivia? Let me talk to her."

Bette's anger disappated instantly. "You can't talk to her right now."

His heart was suddenly going faster then it had been in the accident. Cole was involved. Gregory knew it instinctually and he wanted to choke the life out of him. "What happened?"

"He called her, just a few moments before you did. I should have known his voice on the phone and kept him away from her-"

He cut off her rambling, needing desperately to know about Olivia. "It's all right. Just tell me."

"She fainted." Bette admitted softly. "Whatever he said must have just been too much..."

"I'll be home in ten minutes." He hung up the phone and handed it back to it's owner. Officer Stevens was waiting for him and Gregory cut to the heart of the matter.

"It wasn't an accident. Cole St. John is responsible, have the lot at Liberty checked. I'll fill out anything you damn paperwork you need later." He held up a hand to stop her reply. "Right now you are taking me home."

Paula spent a moment in thought before nodding. If Ricardo was in danger- "I'll take you home."


	45. Grace

"Dr. Baxter is currently in surgery ma'am. Would you like to leave a message?" The nurse was completely apologetic, but it wasn't helping Bette's mood.

"Yes I would. Tell him Stanley said he needs to come-" She stopped midsentence. How much of a secret was Olivia's pregnancy? Did she dare even mention her over the phone? Quickly deciding descretion was the better part of valor, Bette made her message something no one else would understand. "Home. Grace isn't feeling well."

"That's all?" The nurse checked politely.

Bette sighed, looking down at Olivia's still face as she moved her hand to a better position. "Yes that's all. Thank you."

"Looks like you're stuck with me Livie." Bette took a small pillow from the couch and put it under Olivia's head, trying to remember what she was supposed to do in the situation. "Would be probably be better for both of us if I could remember what I'm supposed to do." Twisting her fingers together wasn't bringing anything to mind. "You aren't making this any easier for me Olivia, and all this melodrama certainly isn't good for the little one."

Thinking for another moment, she called the closest thing she could get to Roger. It took a second to remember the number of Ethan's cellular phone.

"Hello?" The young man sounded so much like his father.

"Hey Prince of Wales, got a moment?" Bette petted Olivia's forehead nervously. It had been years since she had seen Olivia faint and she wasn't unconcous this long then, she was sure.

Ethan's smile was obvious in his voice. "For you, always."

"That's a good boy." Bette replied mechanically. "Listen, I need some medical advice and your father is in surgery."

Ethat's laughter was sweet. "I'm a veterinarian Bette. I can help you with Belle or Spike, but I'm probably not what you want for a human problem."

"Honey, I don't know where else to turn." 

He stopped laughing, sensing the urgency in her voice. "What's the problem?"

"Olivia fainted." A high pitched note crept into her voice. "I've tried to wake her, but I can't get her to stir. I don't know what to do- I can't just call anyone..."

She heard him repeat what she said to someone with him, and when he returned, Ethan's concern was warm and comforting. "I've got an medical expert with me at the moment, I'm going to let you talk to her okay?"

The line rustled, and Bette was greeted by a calm female voice of a young woman. "You need to increase the flow of blood to her head. Put her feet up on something, like a pillow. Then go to the kitchen and get a bag of ice or something frozen and wrap it in a towel."

Pulling another pillow from the sofa, she propped up Olivia's feet. Then, with the phone pressed firmly to her ear with her shoulder, Bette headed for the kitchen and then to the freezer. "All right." She replied as she grabbed the first thing in the freezer. "I've got frozen vegetables. Will that work?."

"Yes, that's good." Ethan's friend continued with the same steady tone. "Now you want to wrap it in a dish towel or a tablecloth."

"Got it." Bette started back towards the living room with a navy blue towel in hand. "Now what?"

"Now you put it under her head, right on the base of her skull. That should bring her around." The phone rustled and she heard the muffled voices of Ethan and the young woman as they talked.

Ethan took the phone back. "We're going to head over to the house. We'll be with you in a few minutes. Don't worry."

"Nearly impossible in this house." Bette informed him darkly. "We'll be waiting for you." She brushed her hand over Olivia's forehead again as she hung up the phone. "Won't we Livie?"

Olivia's eye were just starting to move under her eyelids when Gregory burst throught he front door. Bette still wasn't sure what had happened to him. His suit was dirty, a square of broken safety glass came off into her hand when she touched his shoulder. "You look like hell. What happened to you?"

He pushed right past her to kneel next to Olivia. Bette could watch the panic drain from his face as she watched him look down at her. Realizing she wasn't going to get anywhere with him, she went to Paula she followed in the front door. "Maybe one of you will tell me what happened to Gregory?"

"Car accident." Paula explained, her lips tight. "His brakes failed."

"Failed?" Bette asked as the color drained from her face. "Failed as in ceased to function completely-failed?"

Paula nodded grimly. "Gregory stopped his car by sideswiping the brick wall of the Scathway building, if he hadn't thought so quickly people, including him, could have been seriously hurt."

She brought a hand up to her mouth. "Oh good lord! When Cole called- he must have told Olivia what was going to happen-" She threw a glance over her shoulder at her unconcious friend. "No wonder she went down like someone cut her strings."

"Ricardo thinks Cole cut Gregory's brake lines. He's at the Liberty lot with the crime scene unit right now." Paula explained as she took out her notebook. "You said Cole called Olivia? Do you know what he said?"

"No, no I don't. She just said 'Gregory' before she was out." Bette explained as she folded her arms protectively over her chest. "Cole must have told her Gregory had been in an accident."

Paula jotted a quick note. "Is Mrs. Richards all right?"

"I hope so." Bette shrugged and tried to smile anxiously. "Ethan's bringing some medical expert and Livingston-Roger- I mean- Dr. Baxter will be here as soon as he gets out of surgery."

On cue, Ethan arrived with his expert. A petite young woman with short, curly brown hair who nodded to Bette and Paula and went straight to the floor next to Gregory at Olivia's side. Ethan put an arm around Bette's shoulders. "Don't worry. Phebe's a paramedic. She'll take good care of her."

Paula's radio hissed on and she excused herself to the corner of the room. Bette glanced over as Phebe spoke to Gregory softly. "Phebe-" She thought for a momet, trying to place the name. "The one you met at the hospital."

"The paramedic who treated Olivia after Casey was shot." Ethan finished with a tiny smile. "I was waiting with Heather for Casey to get out of surgery, and she came by to check on him for Gregory. We got to talking-"

"You were on a date." Bette realized with the smallest of giggles. "You left your date to come here. That was sweet of you."

"Phebe has a real damsel in distress complex." Ethan teased easily. "She didn't want to leave you panicked."

"Methinks you should try to keep dating this one." Ethan's reply was lost as Gregory's sudden cry of relief. Turned all their attention back to him.

Few feelings were worse in the world then knowing he were helpless. As Bette told him she had fainted, Gregory's heart had been lodged in his throat. It made it difficult to breathe, nearly impossible to speak until he saw her. Until he knew Olivia was all right.

Even when Cole was after him it seemed Olivia was still the target. His hands had become fists in the police cruiser on the way over, and only now were the muscles starting to relax. Adrenaline still coursed through him, filling his blood with strength. He pushed past Bette and dropped to his knees next to Olivia.

His fingers touched the towel under her head. It was cold, just as he would have done. She should be coming around soon, that little trick usually worked. "I'm sorry so Liv." Gregory whispered as he leaned down to kiss her cheek. "I'm sorry that bastard knew how to find you. I'm sorry Casey had to knock you down to save you, that you can't tell our children about their sibling, that I have to ask you to lie when I should be asking you to celebrate."

He fought back the emotion that threatened to break his control. If he lost it now, everything would hit him and Gregory couldn't afford that luxury. Embracing his anger forced his fear to the back of his mind. "He's going to pay for this. When I'm done with him, hell will be an escape."

He ran his fingers along the line of her jaw, wishing he could call her back from oblivion. "You always ask me what I feel and I answer you so rarely that this would probably surprise you if you could hear me." Gregory's fingers moved across her chin and up the curve of her cheek.

"I'm afraid." He explained simply, lowering his voice to a whisper. "Terrified. Despite my best efforts, this man keeps coming. We've avoided him, but we've been lucky. Not safe, lucky. If that red car had turned on second sooner-" He saw the cars twist into a pile of metal in the blink of an eye. "If Casey hadn't-"

That was too horrible to even let into his mind, but the image came anyway. Olivia's eyes gone glassy and dark, unseeing as they stared up at him from the street. His hand twitched, bring a sudden stab of pain from his wrist. The adrenaline was starting to fade, leaving him to deal with the world again. "We won't talk about that."

He flexed his fingers, trying to get them to respond. His left hand was sluggish, the numbness of his wrist was fading into an ache. Gregory ignored it as he ran his hand over the folded edge of her robe, pausing with his hand resting on her stomach. "We haven't even wondered if it's a girl or a boy yet. Do you remember when you were pregnant with Caitlin how we used to sit up at night and talk about what she or he was going to be like?"

His right hand toyed with a lock of her hair. "I have to admit I never expected her to be blonde. I thought when we had a girl, she'd look more like you."

The movement at his side startled him, and Gregory was instantly on alert. Phebe put a hand on his shoulder, trying to still his charged instincts. "Friendly." She insisted with a smile. "Ethan's father's still in surgery, so he asked me."

Gregory blinked, trying to figure out the connection between the paramedic and Roger's son.

"We're dating." She explained easily as she wrapped fingers around Olivia's wrist. "At least, we were trying too. I'll admit to being flattered, but I could really do without the repeat business."

His eyes followed the hand of her watch around as she timed her pulse. "Is Olivia all right?"

Phebe nodded curtly, her curls bouncing slightly as she lowered both her hands on either side of Olivia's neck, fingers searching. "Her pulse is good, a little fast, but strong."

"What are you doing?" His hand with unconciously back over Olivia's womb, as if that would protect the baby.

"I'm looking for the pressure points on her neck." Still searching as she spoke, Phebe smiled as she found the points just beneath Olivia's ears. " Usually the ice trick works, but this should bring her back." She tightened her jaw as she pushed her thumbs into the nerve bundles.

Almost immediately, Olivia's eyes flew open. Panic returned with conciousness. Only the fact that Gregory was sitting right next to her kept her from screaming. Sitting up to look at him nearly made her pass out again. He caught her shoulders and stared down the terror in her eyes. "Liv? Oh sweetheart, thank god you're all right."

Olivia clung to him, not caring that her head was spinning from the sudden movement. "Oh god, Cole- Cole said you were in an accident and I saw it, I saw your car hitting the wall and I heard the sound of the glass breaking. Oh Gregory-"

"Shh..." He insisted gently, trying to hush her hysterics. "It's all right. It's all right now."

Phebe touched his back as she stood up, and over Olivia's shoulder Gregory caught her smile as she returned to Ethan and Bette. "I'm fine." He assured her. "I'm fine."

Hicupping slightly, she pulled away from him enough to look at him. "What happened?"

Gregory cradled her back to his chest, shifting their position so he could lean against the sofa. "Nothing to worry about. The car really got the worst of it Liv."

"The car?" She asked weakly, settling in to his chest. "What about the car?"

Gregory chuckled dryly as he kissed her hair. "When I buy the new one what color should we get?"


	46. facets of love

"And that's how you remove a gall bladder." Roger exclaimed as he collapsed on to the bench. "Learn anything?"

Sean nodded slowly, completely awed by his experience. He knew medical school would be marvelous, but he had no idea how fantastic the human body could be. "I've never seen an artery pulse like that."

"Beautiful isn't it? When you're home for the summer I'll see about getting you a full-time internship." Roger untied his mask and dropped it to the bench. "Let you see as many wonders as you can. Wouldn't want you to lose that enthusiasm."

"I'd really like that." Sean replied brightly, his gratitude shining on his face. "I think I could learn a lot from you."

The elder man began to laugh. "Tell your father that for me. I love it when he makes his annoyed face."

Sean did his best impression of Gregory's stone face and started to laugh along with Roger as he stripped off his own surgical garb.

Roger was barely out of his gloves when the nurse came to give him his message. She found the message a little cryptic, and her confusion was obvious. "A woman called for you. She said to tell you Stanley called and you should come home because Grace needed you."

He smiled gently, not bothering to explain any of it. "Thank you, I'll be leaving as soon as I'm changed."

Sean pulled off his surgical mask and dropped it in the recepticle. "That's got to be one of the strangest messages I've heard."

"It's from Bette." Roger offered as he stripped off his surgical smock. "She needs us back right away."

"That would make Bette Stanley." Sean surmised as he pulled off his booties. "Who's Grace?"

Dropping his hat and booties into the bin, Roger sat down to put on his shoes. "Grace was my younger sister."

Sean sat on the bench beside him, pulling on his shoes as well. "Was?"

"She died, when I was young. When the polio epidemic ran through the country." Roger was quiet for a moment, before grinning at Sean as he took his jacket from the locker. "But that doesn't answer how she could need me now, does it?"

Shaking his head no, Sean tried to piece what he knew together. "No. It doesn't. So Grace must stand for someone else."

"Excellent Watson, excellent." Roger mimed a pipe and shut his locker as he dug his wallet out of his jacket pocket. Opening it up, he pulled an old, weathered photograph from behind his British driver's license. Handing it to Sean, he signed out at the front desk. "That's Grace when she was six."

The little girl in the picture had neat dark curls arranged around her shoulders. Her hands were folded in the lap of her lace trimmed dress. Her smile and eyes were familiar. Even in the black and white photgraph she had blue eyes that must have been brilliant in life. Her smile was shyly gleeful with an innocent enthusiasm Sean found adorable, though he wouldn't have admitted it. "She's pretty."

"Grace was a darling. A real ray of sunshine." Roger winked as they walked out into the parking lot. "But you don't seem any closer to knowing who she is in Bette's message."

Sean smiled sheepishly. "I guess I'm going to need another hint."

Roger threw himself into the passenger seat and folded his arms throughfully. "Hmmm...Did anyone ever tell you how I met your mother?"

"Mom is Grace?" Sean realized but he still couldn't find the connection. "Why is mom Grace?"

Roger raised both eyebrows, "I guess you haven't seen a picture of your mother when she was little girl have you?"

Shaking his head no again, Sean shrugged. "I can't say that I have."

"When I was eight we got a new butler. His name was Thomas Blake and he had a little girl. Grace had only been gone a year, and when Thomas got Olivia out of the car. It was like Grace was back with us. She had the same shy smile, the same curls- Me mum, Daisy as we called her, spoiled her as rotten as Thomas would let her." Roger's grin took a nostalgic light. "She was really something. Your father was- is really a dn lucky man."

Looking back from his window, Roger studied Sean's quiet expression. "Didn't mean to bore you though. I know young men are rarely interested in old family stories."

"No, it's interesting. I've never heard anything about Thomas Blake." Sean assured him quickly. "Mom and dad never talk about the past."

"Probably because parts of it are too painful." Roger observed gently. "Your father's life was really bloody terrible before he came to Sunset Beach. He barely talks about it with your mother, let alone anyone else."

"What about mom?" Sean asked hopefully. "Why doesn't she talk about living in England with your family?"

Roger rolled down his window and took a deep breath of the sweet sea air. "Thomas died when Olivia was your age. He was her whole world, and until she met your father, she didn't know what to do with the space he left in her heart."

Sean tightened his hands on the wheel, he didn't want to lose either of his parents. He couldn't imagine living without them. Years ago he would have been bitterly ambivalent to the thought of Gregory's death, but now it was different. He cared and for the first time in his life, he believed his father did too. "What do you think happened to mom?"

Roger drummed his fingers on the car door, watching the houses get fancier as they entered the posh sector of town. "Bette's never been good with illness. She's probably overreacting."

"You can't deny that mom's been sick lately." Sean pressed through Roger's explaination. "I've seen that look on dad's face."

"The famous Gregory glare of concern?" Roger and Sean shared a smile in the driveway. "Too true. And you're right, Olivia's been worn down. Can't blame her, she's been under near-constant stress for the past few weeks. Probably why she hasn't bounced back from her virus yet."

"Can you do anything?" Sean paused in front of the door.

The earnest desire to help was so strong in his brown eyes that Roger thought he could see the future physician looking out from the young man in front of him. "Not with a virus." He explained gently, guilt assuaged by the knowledge that Sean would one day understand the need to protect his unborn sibling.

"We'll just have to keep an eye on her."

The house was so much more exciting when it was full of people. Instead of the stately quiet it usually had in every room, it was full of talk. Voices in the kitchen, laughter in the living room, Sean could have been fooled into thinking it was someone else's house. But it really was his home. The world he was leaving in just a few days for the foreign world of the Baxter Manor and the university. He almost didn't want to go, only the promise of the wonders of the future made him know his place.

Roger and Bette sat with his mother on the couch. She still looked pale, but the two of them had her smiling. Roger and Bette were holding hands and he kissed her cheek, coaxing a blush out of her. Sean watched them thoughtfully. Roger and Bette caressed and teased each other in that way lovers had with each other.

Hadn't Roger just been with Alex? They had been incredibly close in the days before her death. It didn't make a lot of sense.

Little did lately, life in the house was more chaotic then it ever had been when his parents were fighting. In the dark days when they hated each other, the house was quiet. Now it was noisy, Roger and Bette were laughing again as she rose to check on dinner. He got up, spun her around and bent her back in a dip to kiss her. Laughing and blushing profusely Bette fled to the kitchen as Roger flopped back down next to Olivia looking entirely self satisfied. His antics had brought another smile to her face, and though he was grateful to see his mother smiling, he didn't really understand Roger's behavior.

He knew Ethan and Phebe were in the kitchen, a little verbal fencing had Ethan under the pressure of proving he could cook. He didn't want to interrupt them. Sean turned, leaving Roger to keep an eye on his mother. He could think of one place to get some answers.

Gregory's study was like the cave of the mythical monsters when he was a child. Standing in the doorway now still make him nervous, maybe that was the point of the decor. His father was at the desk, filling in some kind of form. His father was always writing something. Always mysterious at work with something.

He used to wonder what was so much more important then the family. What it was that consumed so much of Gregory's attention. Why they weren't good enough to lure him out of his papers. As he tapped the door with his hand, Sean finally figured out why his father was always working. His epiphany surprised him. "What are you working on now?"

Gregory looked up, slightly surprised. "Insurance information. Thought I'd get it all down while I still remember what happened."

"Bette said the car was toast." Sean began tentively, testing his father's mood.

His father chuckled softly, realizing his ribs were going to be sore tomorrow as he did. "I think I would have said scrap, but you get the idea."

"What about you? You just walked away from the car accident?"

Gregory set down his pen and gave Sean his full attention. "I've got a few bruises that are going to keep me from forgetting the accident any time soon, but I guess I got lucky."

"I'll say." He offered quietly, unable to find anything more then that. Sean couldn't really explain how he felt to himself, let alone to his father. "How's mom doing? She won't tell me anything."

"Your mother just got a little overwrought-" Gregory flexed his wrist again, wincing slightly. It was getting more painful as the day wore on. "She's been under a lot of stress lately."

"Being shot at will do that to you." Sean agreed bitterly, still trying to understand why anyone would want to kill his mother. "Do the police have any evidence?"

Gregory shook his head grimly. "Whoever this bastard is, he's either very good or incredibly lucky."

"I hope he's just lucky." Sean admitted softly, unwilling to deal with the possibility that someone truly commited to killing was after his mother. Especially not now that the man was after his father as well. "Can the Police do something to protect her?"

"Other then they're doing already?" Grindng his jaw wasn't going to help the situation, and Gregory had to stop himself from balling his hands up into fists. "Not without any evidence. The only thing they have is your mother's description of her attacker, and considering she was ill at the time it's not entirely accurate."

"But you and Alex both believed it was that Cole-"

"St. John." Gregory finished. "But he barely exists outside of his Interpol file. He hasn't even been seen reliably in public for over a year." 

Sean furrowed his eyebrows. "But if he's the one who shot Casey-"

"Then he must be in Sunset Beach." Gregory agreed, getting up and shutting the door of his study. He couldn't keep talking about Cole without inevitably raising his voice, and he was dammed if he was going to worry Olivia again today. "But no one's seen him. He hasn't used a credit card, rented a room- nothing that would give him away."

Both stared at each other in silence. Sean could tell by the fury in his father's eyes that he better off changing the subject. "So, Roger thinks mom has a virus?"

Gregory forced his hands to relax as he really looked at his son. Sean was going to college, he was nearly grown. Maybe he could tell him the truth. Let him in on the secret of Olivia's pregnancy. Looking into Sean's eyes was like staring into a mirror of his own fear. The poor boy was worried enough. It wasn't fair to give him something else to worry about before shipping him off to England.

He touched his forehead and sighed as he mislead his son. "She's not getting over her infection and as I'm sure you'll learn in your studies, all the stress she's been under isn't helping."

Sean stood, heading for the door, but instead he sat down on the sofa. "Has she ever been sick like this before?"

Gregory perched on the desk, a mysterious smile playing across his face. "Two or three times." He didn't have to lie to answer, just leave out a few details. "I remember the first time your mother got sick after we were married. It was before Caitlin was born. We'd just bought 'Mo Chuisle' and we sailed all the way down Baha California. Olivia was miserable the whole trip, nauseous and irritable. We thought she was seasick and we were both mortified that we'd have to sell the boat."

He shook his head, grinning as he remembered that faithful doctor's visit. "I was so relieved when we found out."

Confused, Sean tilted his head. It seemed like his father had left something out. "Found out what?"

Gregory's near slip-up surprised him, but he hid it behind a careful verneer of calm. "Found out she just had a bad case of the flu. I'm sure she'll be all right." He folded his arms thoughtfully. "And I'm sure she wouldn't want you to worry."

"She never does." Sean replied knowingly as he shared a smile with his father. "She wants so much to be strong-"

"Never realizing that she's one of the strongest people I know." Chuckling, Gregory left the desk and sat down on the sofa next to his son. "Funny isn't it?"

"It is." Sharing a laugh with his father was something he had never imagined doing. Sean decided to take advantage of their moment together before something changed. "I thought Roger and Alex were a couple."

Gregory nodded distantly, still thinking about the terror he felt the first time Olivia was pregnant. "They were."

Sean lowered his voice to a whisper. "But what's he doing with Bette now?"

"Ah." Gregory put a hand on Sean's shoulder. "If you really want to know, you'll have some time, I'll tell you. Roger and women is a quite a topic."

Smiling at his father was still an unfamiliar sensation. "Didn't really have anything else to do today." Maybe now he'd get to hear more about the mysterious past when his parents were young. He didn't care what his father told him. Sean was grateful for anything his father wanted to share with him.

"Okay." It took Gregory a moment to decide where to start. He'd never spoken to his son about love, not even to talk to him about dating. He'd left that up to Olivia and now he was a little lost. "When Roger falls in love, he bever falls out of it. I'm sure if you asked hum he'd tell you he still loves Lillian."

"But they've been divorced for years." Sean interjected and Gregory watched his son's thoughts develop behind those brown eyes that really were his own. Even down to the pain he buried within them.

"Love isn't something that can be broken because a peice of paper says it's over." Gregory explained with a small smile.

Sean took that in with the a quick nod. "So you'd say he loved both Alex and Bette?"

Gregory entwined his fingers and spent a moment wondering how his son had turned out so thoughtful. It certainly wasn't through any effort of his. "Alex needed him. She wanted someone to be with her when she died." He turned out the window for a moment, he still wasn't sure how he was dealing with his feelings for her. It hadn't faded away when she died as he expected it too. Maybe Olivia was right when she told him everything he pushed away would come back eventually.

He pulled himself back to the present. "But Roger and Bette have had a thing for each other since they met, and we know Bette always follows her heart, no matter where it takes her."

"Do you think it's wrong to have all these women?" The hand his father rested on his shoulder felt better then it ever had before.

"I'm not an expert Sean." Gregory assured him gently. "I know Roger's never treated a woman badly." Which was more then he could say for himself. "He makes them happy, and I can't blame for wanting to do that as often as he can. I can't say I understand it, because I've only ever wanted to make one woman happy." That posessive light shone from his eyes, but Sean didn't mind it half as much when it was directed at Olivia. She needed to be protected.

"That's why you get along." Sean realized as he studied his father's face. "He's really nothing like you."

Gregory looked towards the picture of Olivia on his desk. "When I met your mother, I knew I she was all I wanted, all I needed in the world."

"Drink your water love." Roger instructed as he tossed his feet up on the coffee table.

"I've already had water." Olivia answered petulantly, quite sick of being fussed over.

He nudged her glass with his foot. "Have more."

Olivia put a hand on her hip defiantly. "I'm a grown woman, you can't treat me like a child."

"I'm a doctor love. I treat everyone like a child." Lowering his feet to the floor again, he picked up the full glass of water. "Priveledge of the degree." 

Reluctantly taking a sip, Olivia started to comply, but Roger shook his head "The whole glass and another one after that." Laughing indignantly, she tried to blow him off, but he refused to let her set the glass down. "You drink it or I give you an IV."

Frustrated with his oversealousness, she drank the glass quickly and set it down hard on the coffee table. "Happy?"

Pouring the glass full again from the pictcher on the bad, Roger put it back in her hands. "Drink this, then it's time for clothes."

Taking her water and standing up slowly, Olivia was vindicated by the way the room held still. "See, I'm fine Roger."

"You're fine now." He corrected as he took her free hand to lead her upstairs. "A few hours ago you scared the hell out of Bette."

"I didn't mean to scare her." Olivia replied softly. "It really wasn't my fault."

"I know." Roger agreed as he sat her down on the bed in her bedroom. "You've been under enough stress lately to make me worry anout a healthy person, let along someone in your condition."

With only the two of them in the bedroom he could smile and point at her stomach. "If you don't worry about you, protect the little one. She didn't ask to make her mom sick."

Olivia finished the glass of water and set it next to the bed as she stood up to join him at the closet. "I think it's a boy."

"Then I'm sure he didn't mean to make you sick." Roger dug into her closet, pulling out a simple lavender sweater. "This all right?"

She took it from his hands, taking off her robe and hanging it on the inside of the closet. "Gregory likes that sweater." She opened the top lingerie drawer and took out something lacy of the same color. Holding it up to oger, she grinned impishly. "I think he likes that I wear this under it most of all."

Politely turning his back, Roger started looking for a pair of pants. "Black? Gray?" He touched each pair, testing the fabric. "I think you'll have gray, you wear enough black to work." He handed the pants to her, keeping his eyes closed as he turned around.

Olivia giggled. "I don't think Gregory will mind if you watch me change. You are my doctor after all."

Shaking his head, Roger kept his eyes shut. "Right now I'm just your friend. Can't really watch that way."

She pulled the zipper up over her hip and smiled at him. "You're all clear now. I'm dressed."

"Oh good." Roger replied as she took his arm. "Ready for dinner then? Apparently my son's been hard at work all afternoon with that new dame of his."

A sudden commotion in the living room made them hurry down the stairs. Heather met them at the bottom, beaming at them both happily. "We were just going home, but he insisted on checking on you."

Olivia left Roger's arm and headed for the man Bette was embracing vigourously. Casey had a mass of bandages under his shirt, a sling on his right arm but a sheepish smile.

"Hi." He told Olivia shyly as Bette released him. "I heard I tackled you a little hard."

Swallowing the urge to burst into tears, she nodded. "Gave me a concussion. They kept shining these lights in my eyes."

Casey touched her shoulder with his good hand, surprising her with the strength of his fingers. "You look pretty good, considering."

Smiling at him, Olivia blinked the tears out of her eyes. "I'm fine. Everything is fine, thanks to you."

As she looked at him, Casey thought he caught the underlying meaning of her words. The baby was all right. "I'm glad, Mrs. Richards."

Olivia put her hand tenderly on his face. "I think you can call me Olivia."

Casey wrapped a strong arm around her shoulders, feeling how small she was when he hugged her to his chest. "Okay." He whispered as she started to cry. As her family surrounded them, he almost felt bad for making her cry as Gregory appeared out of his study with Sean.

Ethan and Phebe popped out of the kitchen, cheerfully interrupting the scene. "Dinner is done if you'd all file into the dining room."

Olivia took Casey's hand for a moment. "Are you staying for dinner?"

He looked to Heather and nodded with a grin. "Of course, after all, you owe me." Laughing at her confused expression, Casey explained as they headed into the dining room. "That's how I got into this mess. You invited me to dinner- a dinner I never got to eat I remind you."

Olivia's tears ran freely down her face as she had to agree with him. "I forgot about that."

"Besides...after all that hospital food, I could use something homemade."


	47. bring me to life

**Warning: not for the faint of heart or those under 14.**

After Casey and Heather went home, Olivia had hoped Gregory would emerge from his study and give them the time to talk about what happened. She still hadn't heard the full story behind the accident, and she needed to know. She needed to chase her nightmarish visions of the accident away. She needed him to come explain that it was never going to happen again, but he stayed in his study.

Olivia wasn't sure when she had fallen asleep on the sofa. She remembered vaguely that Roger had covered her with a blanket, then the house was quiet. Gregory kissed her awake, starting gently but becoming more insistent as she came back from her dreams.

Reaching for him lazily, Olivia smiled when he took her fingers and kissed them. "Are you a dream?"

His lips were too hot on her cheek to be anything but real and Gregory laughed. "If I am a dream you have to promise not to wake up."

Sighing as he started devouring the hollow of her neck just below her chin, Olivia opened her eyes. "I thought you were never coming out of your study."

"This is a dream remember? I'm still in my study." Gregory told her with an evil smile. "I'm just your fantasy."

Sitting up slowly, she made room for him on the sofa next to her. "My fantasy-?"

Gregory put his hands on her hips as he pushed her back into the sofa, attacking her mouth. He traveled his lips across her cheek to whisper. "Anything you want."

Wrapping her arms around his neck, she pulled him in closer. "My fantasies of you usually involve less clothing."

He surprised her entirely by scooping her up from the sofa into his arms. "That can be arranged." Gregory promised as he started towards the staircase.

Giggling as he set her down on the first step, Olivia reached for the first button of his pinstriped shirt. "Where are we going?"

He shook his head at her, sliding his hands under her lavender sweater to find the lace camisole beneath it. "It's a surprise." Olivia leaned forward to kiss him, but he ducked away. "It took me some time to set up." Pulling the black scarf from his pocket he tied it gently around her eyes. "Just trust me."

"You can't really let me down in my dreams can you?" Olivia teased, giggling at his secrecy.

"No." He agreed as he led her up the first staircase. "I can only do what you want me to do."

She stopped walking and pulled his hands to her body, running them over her hips and up to her chest. "I might be a little demanding."

Gregory kissed the vee of lace on her cleavage, drawing a low moan out of her throat. "You've earned it." He continued to lead her, guiding her past their bedroom to the back staircase.

"You went past our bedroom." Olivia teased him as he started up the next set of stairs.

"Variety is the spice of life sweetheart." Gregory opened the door and pulled her into the steamy hot tub room. Standing behind her, he undid the blindfold, dropping it to the tile. Their hot tub was one of the most beautiful rooms in the house. Sunken into the floor with glistening black tile all around it. Shelves of towels were on the wall to the left, one wall opened onto the third floor balcony, and the last wall was a mural of the Italian countryside. Above the steaming water, the skylight promised a view of the night sky.

"We haven't been up here in-" Olivia's comment was cut off as he pushed her back against the doorway, finding the sensitive inside of her mouth with his tongue.

"Shhh." He ordered as he raced down the buttons of her sweater. "We're up here now. The kids are gone, our guests are gone-" The sweater fell open, exposing the intricate lace of the matching camisole she wore beneath it.

His hands were as insistant as his mouth, sliding inside her sweater to force it off of her shoulders.  
Olivia gasped into his lips as the coarse skin of his palms found her shoulders. Biting at his bottom lip got the groan of desire she was looking for. She skipped his shirt and reached for his pants, undoing the buckle of his belt and pulling it free from the loops around his waist. Her breath was speeding up with the pounding of her heart and she wondered what Roger would say about making love. Since he hadn't said no...

Gregory's trousers fell in a puddle on the floor and he stepped out of them as he ran his hands hungrily over her hips in search of the zipper. The heat of the room was as intoxicating as the smell of the candles. The water was waiting for them, promising to caress away their cares. The delicate zipper on the left hip of her pants broke in his hand. The muttered curse into her mouth made her giggle. He solved his problem by ripping the zipper out, leaning her back against the wall as his hot hands ran over the cool skin of her thighs.

As he knelt to free her feet, Gregory couldn't resist running the tip of his tongue over her kneecap. Olivia sank to the floor next to him, gasping with laughter. She got him back by pushing him back to the cool tile of the floor, but he rolled her over as he ate her lips, abusing the sensitive skin with a ravenous tongue. Tumbling over again brought them to the edge of the tub and before they realized what they were doing, they were falling into the water.

Hot water sloshed over the edge, racing towards the clothes they had abandoned and soaking them as well. Coming up laughing, Gregory brushed the hair out of her face before attacking her once again with desperate hunger. Completely saturated with water, his shirt was nearly transparent. The buttons were large enough that she didn't have to fumble with them and soon his shirt was off and floating behind him in the water. Olivia pulled his naked chest in closer to her, and he responded by slipping his hands under the back of her camisole. He wanted it off, she could see it in his eyes as she moved to lean against the edge of the hot tub.

Instead of letting him remove it, she teased him by slyly removing her panties and setting them dripping on the edge of the hot tub. Chuckling so low in his throat it was nearly a growl, Gregory forced her back against the wall of the tub.

One hand brushed against her, fore finger finding a moan as he reached between her legs. Olivia shuddered as he caressed her again. She tugged at the camisole, ready to give him what he wanted if he'd just stop teasing like that. Gregory pulled the lace over her head, smoothing the wet hair back from her face. Longing was painful in his eyes as they met. He balled up his boxer shorts and tossed them out of the water, leaving only water between their naked skin.

Her legs wrapped around him, pulling him in, but Gregory was going to hold out. Attacking the smooth wet flesh, his fingers slid over her body, running up the curve of her spine. He wanted to feel alive. To know he survived.

Olivia started to shiver, but it had nothing to do with the temperature of the water. The longer he studied her body, the more nerves he set on fire with his touch. Cupping her breasts, he ran thumbs over her nipples, teasing them erect and distracting her attention as he thrust into her. She cried out his name, surprised by the intensity that shot up her body. Keeping his hands where they were he moved slowly within her.

She dug her hands into his shoulders, rolling her head as she bit her lip. Gregory shook his head and paused in his rhythm to kiss her gently. "No one can hear you." No one but him, and he wanted to her scream his name into the night sky. He needed to know his place in the world, what he survived for. Her voice caught in her throat, tearing out low and hungry as she moaned again. That inspired him and their speed increased. Olivia dug the fingers of one hand into the cold tile rim of the hot tub, the other went around his neck.

His teeth brushed one of her breasts as he roamed her chest with his mouth. The sudden flash of pain was a counterpoint to the sensation building within her. She didn't have any control left to hold out against the force of his passion. Gregory had seen to that. A moan died on her lips and resurrected itself into a scream of pleasure. Gasping ragged against him, Olivia released the hand holding the edge of the tub and brought it to the back of his head. She closed her eyes, waiting for the explosion inside her head. Her hearing faded down to the rush of her heart, as if it too was begging to be set free.

Her back went stiff first, arching her body against his as climax came in waves. Each one coursing up to attack her mind. Olivia dug her fingers into his back, nails sinking into his skin as she trembled in his arms. Her final shattered gasp of his name sent him over the edge with her.

Gregory was still breathing hard as he moved around her, pulling her into his arms as he leaned back against the wall. Then the tears came, rolling down her face into the water beneath her chin. The shuddering of her body lent itself to her misplaced sobbng. Maybe it was unshed tears for the shooting, or the accident- whatever the feeling was, making love had set it free and demanded to be dealt with before he let her go.

Catching his breath slowly, Gregory firmly kissed her forehead. "I love you."

Olivia curled up against him, his sweetness making it difficult to stop crying. She couldn't explain the feeling of relief that poured out of her. Maybe he wouldn't understand. Gregory never saw his own mortality. He was never in danger and he certainly didn't allow himself to be protected. "I know." She turned around, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I know."

She kissed his cheek, leaning her head on his shoulder as Gregory ran his hands slowly over her back. "Should I ask?" He wondered gently, feeling her shoulders shake beneath his hands.

"You're not afraid." She explained as he wiped her tears away with his right hand. "I knew you wouldn't be- you're never afraid."

Gregory kept his eyes locked with hers. "Afraid of what sweetheart?"

"Cole's coming after you." Olivia pointed out as she moved away from him in the water. "When he was after me I knew it was going to be all right because you would protect me. You always protect me." She looked up at the stars, wondering if they understood how she felt.

He put his hand on her shoulder, waiting for her to face him again. "Olivia-?"

"I don't know how to protect you the way you look after me." She finally admitted to the mural on the wall. "You keep me safe. I can't do that for you. If something happens to you I won't be able to do anything to stop it." Her voice grew higher and more desperate. "I'm helpless."

Gregory spun her around quickly, letting her see the emotion in his face he wasn't sure he could express. "You are never helpless Olivia." He lifted her chin carefully with one hand. "You've never been helpless, and that's what I love about you." He bent his head down to kiss her, finishing his explaination with a gentle touch.

"That's all you love about me?" There was the smile beneath her tears.

"I love that smile." Gregory explained as he helped her out of the water. Pulling a white terry robe off the shelf he hung it over her shoulders. "And how you can always make it seem like we're the only people in the world when you look at me." He kissed her cheek, whispering into her ear. "I love your knees."

Shaking her head, she blushed at him. As he tied her belt, he rested his hands over her stomach. "I love that you're carrying our baby."

Olivia took his hand into hers, smiling as the tears dried into her eyelashes. "Our baby-" She repeated happily. "Do you think he'll come before my birthday?"

Gregory laughed as they started downstairs to their bedroom. "I'm still trying to get over you being pregnant now. March is pretty far away."

"Not that far." Olivia taunted him as he ducked into his closet. When he emerged in his pajamas, she had a pillow tucked into her robe. Grinning wickedly, she let him see her as she'd look months from now. "I'll be big as a house before you know it."

Putting his arms around her, Gregory looked down at her 'stomach' and tried not to sound nervous when he laughed. "You always look beautiful." He pulled the pillow out of her robe, grabbing her hips and pulling her closer.

Leaning back her head, Olivia joined his laughter. "You're a liar, but if I didn't know better I'd believe you."

Gregory backed her towards the bed, promising to remind her again how beautiful he thought she was as he undid the belt of her robe. "Liv, that's because I'm a professional."


	48. dancing around the truth

"We need a plan." Roger crumpled a piece of paper and bounced it off the wall to the garbage can. "This Cole obviously has a plan. We need a better one."

Bette perched on the counter next to him in the kitchen at her beach house. "I don't know if he has a plan anymore."

The doctor cocked his head curiously. "Why would you say that?"

She held up her hand with her epiphany. "Think about it. Every time he's done something before, he's made a threat." Holding up her hand, she bent down her first finer. "He sends Greggie the articles. He breaks into the house and sends him Livie's hair." Bette stopped on her third finger. "But this time, nothing. He shoots at her, and nothing. He doesn't even gloat about it."

Roger took up the yellow legal pad and started making notes again. "That breaks his own pattern."

"And then he goes after Gregory." Bette finished, realizing Roger's hand was on her thigh and it sent a tingling sensation up her leg. "No one without a death wish goes after Gregory."

"Cole doesn't have a death wish." Roger thought out loud. "Gregory's car was a punishment. He was angry."

"Casey wasn't part of the plan." Bette added, wondering if he would always inspire this kind of brilliance in her.

"No- no Casey wasn't. If he hadn't been there-" Both of them shuddered, that possiblity was distinctly unpleasant. "So Cole didn't expect him to be there."

"Cole knew they were going to Grenadines. He knew it was just going to be the family and that Livie was coming late." Bette made stopped gesturing abruptly. "God, Livingston, who knew about all of that?"

"Gregory and Olivia, Sean, Rose, Casey-" Roger paused putting his pen down for a moment. "And Caitlin."

Her feet thudded on the floor as she dropped off the counter. "You don't think?"

Roger shook his head slowly. "No, god no, at least- I hope not." He wrote 'Caitlin' on the top of his notes in big letters. "We're going to need to keep an eye on her."

Bette took the pad and looked it over. "How do we do that? I think she suspects you, and I'm hardly subtle."

Roger put an arm aroud her shoulders comfortably. "The boy, we were going to ask if he could stay at the mansion anyway. The penthouse is a little small and Gregory's going to need someone to walk Belle."

She looked up at him with naked admiration for a moment. "The penthouse- just think about it. Me in a penthouse! None of the eight ever would have sprung for the penthouse at Lichfield."

Roger toyed with her earring, having fun with dangling ends. "I just hope he takes the bait."

Letting Sean go was harder then Olivia had ever expected. He was her baby and he was flying across the an entire continent and an ocean. He tried to shake himself out of her arms, but ended up looking at his father for help. "I've got to get on the plane now mom."

Gregory put his hands on his wife's shoulders, digging into her muscles with patient strength. "You need to let him go sweetheart."

Olivia released Sean reluctantly, wiping at her eyes with Gregory's handkerchief. "You take care of yourself darling. And write us and call us every week."

He blushed, rather embarassed by the scene she was making in the airport. "I promise. You'll be completely sick of hearing about the East Chesterfield."

Caitlin hugged him next, Sean had been worried she wouldn't be able to make it to the airport. She had just been so busy lately with school. "I'm going to miss you little bro. Go see a castle or two for me."

"Flight 2634 to San Francisco is now boarding." The disembodied voice of the PA system announced and Sean waved his ticket.

"That's me." He hugged Olivia one more time, hoping her tears would go away after he left. "Thanks mom. I love you." Sean moved on to his sister, embracing her quickly one last time. "I love you too Cate. Try not to be too busy." That left his father, who stood protectively by Olivia's side. They looked at each other quietly for a moment, then Sean hugged his father. It was brief and they looked at each other awkwardly for a moment.

Gregory managed to smile. "You take care of yourself son. Remember to have fun, don't just study all the time." Olivia took his hand and squeezed, deeply proud of him. He returned the gesture and pointed at the gate with his free hand. "Remember how proud we are of you. Live well." Caitlin waved brightly, happy Sean was going off to better things then those that waited for him here.

He looked over his family one more time, sealing the image in his memory. Caitlin's smile, the way his father kept his mother's hand close to his side. They'd be all right. It was time for him to figure out who Sean Richards was for himself. He grinned as the breeze from the open door to the plane hit his face. This was his time.

Roger and Bette were waiting for them in the living room when they got back. They were off to something important by the look of them. Roger had his tux on, with an elegant purple bow tie that matched the shimmering sequins of Bette's elaborate gown. They jumped up from the sofa and their conversation with Ethan as Olivia, Gregory and Caitlin returned from the airport. Belle stayed put at Ethan's feet, though her tail wagged when she saw her mistress had returned.

"You two look nice." Gregory observed dryly. "Off to dinner?"

"The symphony actually." Bette answered with a tremendous smile. "Livingston's making me cultured. We're even going out for something foreign-" She snapped her fingers as she tried to remember."

"Escargot." Roger finished for her, taking her hand and kissing it. "Can you believe she's never heard of it?"

His wink was not lost on Gregory who nodded to Bette in amusement."It's French Bette, you'll love it."

"So I am told." Bette replied as she wrapped her arm around Roger's. "But enough about us, we just stopped by to tell you our good news."

"Good news?" Caitlin interrupted with false cheerfulness. "What's the good news?"

Roger bowed politely to them as Ethan stood up next to his father. "Bette has graciously agreed to share my living quarters. We're moving in together tomorrow."

Olivia burst into a mischevious smile as Bette started to blush. "I'm assuming you're moving out of our guest room then?"

"I picked up a little flat at the Lichfield." Roger shrugged in false modesty. "Pretty little thing's on top of the whole building."

"It's the penthouse." Bette finished with a mock sigh. "It's gorgeous Livie. You'll have to come see it when all our stuff is moved in."

Ethan took a step towards Gregory, smiling rather shyly. "I was hoping you'd let me keep living here. I considered getting my own place, but to be honest I'd be terribly lonely living by myself, and I thought you'd like the help with Belle."

"We'd love you to stay." Olivia answered for her husband, taking Ethan's hand gratefully. "I was just thinking about how quiet it would be without a young man around."

Grinning in a replica of his father's charm, Ethan nodded. "Great. Sean got off all right then?"

Gregory nodded imperiously, keeping his own emotions in check. He didn't want to show how much he missed his son already. "He's going to love England. Don't you think so darling?"

Olivia retreated to his side, resting her head on his shoulder, their unwritten signal that she was tired. "I'm just grateful he can stay at the manor with Lillian. I feel better knowing he's safe in that house. I have a lot of fond memories there."

Roger smiled indulgently at her. "I'll bet you do love."

Bette tapped his watch urgently. "We've got to get going. We'll miss the curtain."

He checked the time and nodded in agreement. "That we will. Thanks for keeping the boy for me. Wouldn't want him off on his own." He kissed Olivia's cheek and waved to Gregory. "See you tomorrow."

Outside, Bette leaned in close to whisper. "Did you see her face? Beauty certainly wasn't very happy to hear Ethan was staying."

Roger nodded swiftly. "I think Alex was right to worry about her. I just wish I knew how deep the damn girl's got herself involved."

"She's their daughter." Bette said darkly as they got into her car. "Intensity certainly comes with the genes."

He shut the door as he got comfortable on the passenger side. "That's what worries me."

Caitlin watched in veiled disgust as her parents retired to the sofa Roger and Bette had just left. Why couldn't they be more like them? Roger and Bette were going out on the town. Olivia and Gregory hadn't be out together in weeks. She didn't think to blame Cole's threats. It was obviously all some ploy of her mother's to keep Gregory for herself.

Ethan kept up conversation with them, miraculously unbothered by their terrible behavior. How he put up with it was entirely beyond her. Her parents were obnoxiously all over each other, her dad could barely keep his hands off Olivia. She was so sick of them and their flirting. They were already married for godsake! What else did they need to prove?

Gregory excused himself first, kissing Olivia before heading out again. His new car was ready to be picked up at the dealership and he wanted it for the weekend. Caitlin opened her journalism book and started highlighting random passages. She just had to look busy. As long as she seemed to be hard at work, no one would bother her and she ould wait for Cole to call and rescue her from her house.

After awhile Ethan excused himself too. He was meeting that woman again, he was telling her mother something about a new set of duets he wanted to work on. Caitlin couldn't remember what kind of music Ethan was talking about, or who that woman was. She didn't really care. Her mother was alone with her now. They hadn't been alone together in more then a month. Her father was always so dammed protective or Olivia was at the office.

Her mother didn't say anything. She was still looking at the picture of their family from last year, and Caitlin forced away the pity. She didn't trust that Olivia really missed Sean. Her mother was probably just worrying that he wouldn't know what to do without her. After all, Sean had always been her favorite.

Finally, after what seemed like hours of pretending to study, Olivia interrupted her. "What are you working on darling?"

"Just stuff for my journalism class. Can you believe we have an assignment for the first week?" Caitlin shut the book and smiled cheerfully up at her mother. "But I can take a break."

Her mother smiled weakly. "Come sit with me. Tell me what you're up to. You seem so busy."

Sitting down next to Olivia was difficult and Caitlin suddenly missed the weight of the rifle. She plastered a false pleasant expression on her face. "School's just a little tougher this year. They say junior year's the hardest one after all."

"Well your father and I are very proud of you. I don't think we say that enough." Olivia flattered her with a hand on her shoulder.

It took Caitlin some control not to pull away from her mother's hand. "I know you and daddy are."

"Good. You are so precious to us Caitlin." Olivia looked away and then back at her daughter.

Something was bothering her, and Caitlin was nearly shaking with anticipation of knowing what it was. She'd love to hear how terrified Cole was making her. "I know mom." She looked away, hoping Olivia would mistake her smile for one of embrassment. "Are you all right? You look like there's something on your mind."

One corner of Olivia's mouth twitched. "I never could hide anything from you, could I?"

"It's okay mom." Caitlin began as earnestly as she could. "You can trust me."

Olivia took her hand, patting it nervously. "Of course I can darling. Of course I can." Again she looked away, whatever it was, it was rather difficult for her mother to admit. "Do you remember when you talked to Alex at the charity ball? I know it was awhile ago, but I think she told you something about your father and I."

Caitlin wracked her brain for a moment, a sick feeling forming a knot in the bottom of her stomach. "She said you were trying to have another baby." She replied softly.

Olivia smiled then and the sick feeling blossomed. "You're not still trying are you?" Caitlin asked anxiously. Her mother started to reply but she cut her off. "Because I think that would be very irresponsible of you."

Olivia's smile vanished instantly. "Irresponsible? What do you mean?"

"People are shooting at you from rooftops!" Caitlin replied angrily., praying that her parents weren't as stupid as they seemed to be. "Someone sabotaged daddy's car, if you and daddy had a baby you'd just be putting it in danger."

The color drained out of her mother's face and she looked like she was going to cry again. "We're not going to be in danger indefinitely. Cole St. John will be caught."

"I'm not so sure." Caitlin got up from the sofa, pacing and trying to keep her anger at a reasonable level. "The police have been protecting you since he called into the radio, and they haven't been able to do anything to stop him." She was right, why couldn't her mother see that? Cole was above and beyond the powers of the SBPD. "Having a baby now would be the worst kind of selfishness." She stopped pacing and turned to her mother desperately. "Tell me you're not going to keep trying."

"Caitlin, it's not as simple as that." Olivia protested weakly, folded and unfolded her hands in her lap. "There are things you just don't understand."

"Like what mom? What don't I understand?" She stared her mother down. "What's not to understand about someone trying to kill you?"

"Darling-" Olivia tried to keep her own emotions as buried as she possibly could, but her temper was aroused. "Your father and I can't let this madman dictate our lives. I think you're the one who doesn't understand."

"So having a baby will somehow make everything okay." Snapping back released a little of her anger and Caitlin found she liked taking out her aggression. "That seems like an awfully big weight to put on something that will never happen."

Olivia raised an eyebrow, finding her own anger as she dropped her tone. "Never say never Caitlin."

"Oh be reasonable!" Her daughter's voice shot up in pitch. "You're what, forty-three? You'd probably need rounds of fertility drugs just to get pregnant." Caitlin missed the flash of guilt that crossed her mother's face as she went back to pacing. "Don't you see what that means? If you were meant to get pregnant you wouldn't need any drugs. You wouldn't have to trick your body."

That was it, Caitlin realized suddenly. That was why she was so angry. Her mother had already had her children. Olivia's time was past, the next baby in their family should be hers. She was going to get married and have Cole's babies. They would be so beautiful too, with his dimples and her hair. Her parents were clinging to the past. Trying to rekindle some lost spark from their youth by pretending they could still have a baby. That was all it was, wasn't it? There was something in the way Olivia brought it up that made her suspicious.

"Don't you get it mom?" She tried a more plaintive tone, trying to sound concerned. "Daddy would be destroyed if something happened to you and you- you couldn't handle loosing a baby mom. It rips you apart inside." Sitting down, she forced herself to take her mother's hand. It was ice cold and her mother didn't return her grip. "Think of what it would do to daddy and Sean if you started drinking again because you had a miscarriage."

That did it, the remaining color was gone from Olivia's face. Miscarriage was as terrifiying to her mother as Cole promised it would be. He was as brilliant as he was handsome. "Cole's not going to stop if you and daddy have a baby. He's not going to stop until he gets what he wants."

"You almost sound like you admire him." Gregory's voice startled them both from the doorway. He sized up the situation in a moment. Olivia wouldn't tell Caitlin about the baby without him, she understood that this was their announcement to make together. He should have known she'd start testing Caitlin's reaction. Letting Sean leave while they both lied to him was hard on her, much harder then Olivia would admit too.

"Admire him?" Caitlin repeated, completely thrown by her father's sudden return. "I don't admire him. I don't know what you're talking about." Gregory's presence ruined everything.

"Oh really?" He crossed the room quickly, staring down his daughter. At close range Olivia looked terrible, why didn't Caitlin see how upset she was making her mother? "I don't see what other reason you'd have to put more faith in that criminal then your parents."

Standing up to be more even with her father, Caitlin reached down for her reserve of anger. "I'm just trying to protect you. You've always kept me safe daddy, but this is a thousand times worse then anything that's ever happened before to our family. I don't think you can protect mom and a baby. Not even you can do that daddy."

There was a darkness in his daughter's eyes Gregory had never seen before. "You have every right to be worried." His voice turned cold and Olivia watched as his eyes glazed over with ice. "But you don't have the right to frighten your mother, young lady."

"Maybe someone should." Caitlin snapped back, ignoring his insult and taking a step towards him menacingly. "You seem content to fill her mind full of lies. Someone has to tell her the truth."

Gregory closed the space between them, using all of his height to press his position. "You don't know what you're talking about! You don't know the truth Caitlin, and quite frankly, you couldn't handle it."

"I couldn't handle it!" She dove into hysterics, screaming at her father. "At least I can handle my life without turning to the bottle. At least I can deal with my problems without disappearing into an office." Pushing past her father, she headed for the door, disgusted with both of her parents. "Which is more then I can say for either of you."

Enraged, Gregory turned to chase down his daughter. He wasn't even thinking about what he was going to do. He only knew that he was going to show her exactly why she needed to show more respect to her parents. Catching her arm, he pulled her viciously back from the door. Raising a hand, he didn't even see Caitlin's expression as he tightened his arm.

"Gregory no!" Olivia screamed as she flew up from the sofa. "No Gregory, don't"

"Stay out of this." He growled without looking at his wife. "She's way out of line."

Caitlin held fast, waiting for him to slap her across the face. Begging him to do it. To prove how right she was to have lost faith in him.

"No!" Olivia cried again, putting herself between her husband and her daughter. "No, please, Gregory, don't- Don't."

Gregory looked past Olivia, ready to thrust her aside and remind his daughter of her place, but there was blood on her upper lip. A crimson trail ran from her nose over her lips down her chin. Olivia brushed at it with her hand and stopped dumbstruck as she looked at the blood on her hand.

"Don't." She repeated again. Feeling slightly sick at the sight of the blood on her hand, Olivia turned to him for help. "Gregory?"

Dropping his arm, Gregory's anger was instantly washed away in a wave of concern. Olivia wiped her face with her other hand, but the blood kept coming. Running over her chin in a scarlet line, the blood started to drip onto her white blouse. It left round red spots on her chest.

Caitlin knew a good thing when she saw it and fled. Slamming the door behind her in her rage.

Neither of her parents heard the sound of the door. Gregory pulled his handkerchief out of his pocket and put it firmly under her nose. "It's all right." He whispered mechanically. "It's just a little nosebleed."

Olivia held up her hands as he led her towards the kitchen. Both of her hands were covered in blood. Though she couldn't see the handkerchief, she could feel it wet and hot against her face. "What's happening to me?" She asked anxiously as she looked to him in terror. "There's blood everywhere."

"Shhh..." Gregory ordered as calmly as he could. "It's all right. We'll get you cleaned up and everything will be fine." He shouldered the door tot he kitchen open and led her to the sink. Turning on the cold water tap would wash the blood away and keep her from getting more upset. "Hold this." He put her hands on the handkerchief under her nose as he tried to remember what Roger had told him to do the last time he got hit with a ball in squash.

"This is going to hurt a little." He advised apologetically as he grabbed the bridge of her nose and sqeezed it tight between his thumb and forefinger.

Olivia's voice was distorted as she dropped the saturated handkerchief into the sink. "That hurts more then a 'little'." She complained as she grabbed his wrist.

With his left hand he rubbed her back, promising he'd make it up to her. "I'm trying to stop the bleeding. Just keep breathing through your mouth."

Coughing made her choke more as she tried to breath through her nose and got a mouth full of coppery blood. Swallowing some and spitting the rest into the sink, Olivia tried not to think about the churning of her stomach. Everything reminded her of blood. She smelled it, her mouth was full of it. She tried to leave the sink, wanted to get away from the gory mess. "I'm going to be sick."

"No." Gregory suggested gently as he increased the pressure on her nose. "You're fine."

She gasped inward against the pain he caused. "Gregory that really hurts!"

"You're fine." He repeated as he straightened her head over the sink. "You're going to be fine."

Olivia tugged at his wrist, wishing he'd release the vise grip he had on the bridge of her nose. "I'm going to throw up."

"No- no you aren't." He insisted, putting his left hand into the cold water and waiting for his fingers to grow cold. Once they were cold enough, he switched hands, hoping the cold would help dull her nerves. "You're going to be fine."

"I don't- I can't-" Olivia took a shaky breath in through her mouth. "I hate the taste of blood."

"It'll all be over soon." Gregory promised, hoping he could make good on it. "You'll be fine when the bleeding stops."

Olivia groaned, her voice still distorted by the death grip he had on her. "The bleeding doesn't hurt. Just leave me alone." She pushed him back weakly with on hand, leaving a smudge of blood on his gray suit jacket. "It'll stop on its own."

Soaking his right hand in the frigid tap water, he waited for his fingers to be nearly numb before he witched hands again. "Just hang on a few minutes more kiddo."

"You're hurting me!" Olivia protested angrily. "Can't you just let go?"

Tilting her head forward, he made sure she wasn't going to swallow any more blood. "Roger ever tell you about the fights we got into in college?"

"Not really." She admitted, still frustrated by the way he was manhandling her face. "It's not the kind of thing that comes up over dinner."

Chuckling slightly, Gregory was relieved to see the water running down the drain in the sink was starting to clear. "Once, during finals second year, he damn near broke my nose. Oh that was a mess." Shaking his head at the memory, he let his left hand go cold in the water before he switched. "By the time we got down to the med center, I'd swallowed enough blood to throw it up."

He tucked her hair behind her ears with his free hand. "Not something I ever want to do again." Gregory ruefully explained. "Not something I'm going to let you do either. So you'll have to put up with me hurting your face for awhile longer." Statisfied that the bleeding was start to slow, he released some of the pressure. "Tell me what you and Caitlin were talking about."

"Didn't you hear?" Letting go of her grip on his wrist, Olivia lowered her hands to the edge if the sink, trying not to look at the pink water circling down the drain for what it was. "She thinks Cole's going to kill our baby and I'll start drinking again."

"I thought we raised a smarter girl." Gregory explained bitterly as he released his hand from her nose tentitively.

Rubbing the sore bridge of her nose, Olivia sighed, still careful to breath only through her mouth. "I certainly wouldn't describe us as model parents."

"Sean seems all right." Gregory pointed out with pride as he looked around for a dishtowel he could sacrifice to wash her face. Rose was too efficient, and he couldn't find any that looked old. Looking in the bottom drawer next to the sink he finally found one with a hole in the corner. "Better then all right. Roger was telling me how difficult it is to get accepted to East-Chesterfield's pre-med. Especially for an American."

Holding the towel under the cold tap, he watched Olivia's lips curl into a stunning smile. Even with blood all over her face, she was so beautiful. Curious to the source of her amusement, he asked. "What?"

"You and Sean." She explained with quiet pride. "You and Sean finally get along."

"It just took some severe circumstances to finally find what brings us together." Gregory's heart pained him when he realized it was the second time in two weeks he was washing blood off her skin.

"And what would that be?" The lilt in her voice suggested she was bouncing back. Rebounding from her fight with Caitlin.

Dropping the bloodstained towel into the sink along with his ruined handkerchief, Gregory released her hair from behind her right ear, watching it curl gently over the pale skin of her cheek. "You." Leaning forward, he kissed her forehead, tasting the residual nervous sweat from her arguement. What other horrible things had their daughter said? He couldn't get it out of Olivia now, she was starting to smile again.

"You are our common ground." Talking about Sean had taken her mind off of Caitlin, just as he hoped. "Something we finally agree on."


	49. the handkerchief

Caitlin flew into Cole's cheap apartment already in a towering rage. He sat on the end of the bed and calmly listened to her tirade. Eventually she would get to some information he could use. "My goddamned parents are trying to have another baby. What are they thinking? Neither of them are going to live long enough to raise it even if they get pregnant,"

It was like a light going on in a dark room. Threats on Olivia might have just made Gregory angry, but threatening an unborn child would certainly send him over the edge. "How do you know she's not already?"

Caitlin sank to the edge of the bed neat to him, her anger fading into a sick feeling of betrayal. "She can't- They wouldn't-" In desperation she turned to Cole as she realized he was right. "Why wouldn't they tell me?"

"Probably wanted to keep me from knowing about it." Cole decided with a self-satisfied grin. He pulled up his knee to his lap and looked up at the ceiling thoughtfully. They needed confirmation. He would deeply enjoy showing Gregory that nothing was sacred. No secret could be kept from him.

"You said you left when your mother got a nosebleed?" He remembered in a flash of inspiration. "We've got to check your house." He lifted her from the bed as he pulled on her arm.

"Yeah, blood just started running down her face, daddy forgot I was even there." Caitlin reiterated glumly. "What could you possibly want from my house?"

"Blood." Cole said with a wicked gleam in his eye. "I'm betting good old Gregory won't take the time to clean up. He'll take your mother up to bed, probably sit and talk sweet to her. Giving us enough time to find something with Olivia's blood on it."

"Eww." Caitlin couldn't understand why he wanted blood. "Why do we need blood?"

Cole sighed in mild exasperation. The next time he took a lover, he wanted someone a bit more intelligent. "Because blood has all kinds of useful information in it. Even hormones that will tell us wether or not there's another Richards brat on the way."

Cole proved to be entirely right about her father. The house was quiet on the first floor. Gregory must have taken Olivia upstairs, just as he predicted.

Caitlin pointed towards the kitchen, a trail of browning droplets on the floor lead to the door. "They went in there." Following her hand, they crept into the kitchen. She felt a little odd sneaking around her house, but hell itself would come to claim her if her father knew she was helping Cole.

His eye for detail found the smudge of blood on the edge of the sink. Leaning over the edge, Cole found exactly what he wanted. Gregory's blood soaked handkerchief, carelessly left in a ball in the corner of the sink. "Jackpot." He whispered excitedly to Caitlin. "Find a plastic bag."

She looked at the bloody mess in the sink in disgust. "That's gross."

Taking the bad, he turned it inside out picked up the handkerchief with a smile. The neat monogram was still visible in the corner. Gregory's own handkerchief would carry the means of his undoing. "It's necessary." He retorted as he sealed the bag. "Now we take a little trip to LA to meet a friend of mine."

"How long is that going to take?" Caitlin asked with annoyance.

"We'll know by tomorrow." He replied with his typical arrogance. "If this turns out to be positive-" Cole nearly laughed in delight. "Your parents won't even know what hit them"

Upstairs, at the foot of the bed Belle lifted her large brown and white head to listen. Her mistress was asleep in the bed above her, and the man who kept his distance from her was sitting on the bed calmly reading his book. He looked up when she stood and scratched at the door of the bedroom.

Gregory put his bookmark in and left the book on the pillow as he got up carefully. Olivia stirred slightly when the bed creaked as he stood. He touched her shoulder. "I'm just putting the dog out. You don't have to get up Liv."

As soon as he opened the door of the room, Belle bounded past him towards the stairs. "Dogs." Gregory muttered to himself as he followed her down to the living room. "One minute you're sleeping, the next minute you need to be outside like the house is on fire."

But she didn't head for the outside door, like he suspected, instead she raced into the kitchen and started barking.

Caitlin shut the kitchen window behind Cole, sighing in relief just as the huge mutt Sean had gotten for mom cornered her. The dog barked once before pulling back her lips and baring her teeth. Yelping in surprise, she jumped up onto the counter just as her father entered the kitchen.

"Belle what's going on? What's in here?" Gregory chided in annoyance. "Outside isn't this way." He reached for her collar, only then looking up to see what she was growling at. "Caitlin? What are you doing here?"

"Trying to stay away from that beast." She lowered a foot off the end of the counter and Belle pulled out of Gregory's grip to snap at her. "God dad, she's vicious."

"She's never done this before." He put both hands on the collar and pulled the dog back. "Belle sit, down. Belle down." Reluctantly the St. Bernard sat at Gregory's feet. Still not taking her eyes off of Caitlin or the partially open window. "She doesn't know you. Maybe you should just stay up there until I get her outside."

"Why do you even keep that beast around?" Caitlin folded her arms over her chest, pouting as she slid to the back of the counter near the window.

"Sean feels better with her around." Gregory explained, agreeing with Belle's low growl. "And now that he's gone, it's more important then ever to honor his wishes. He worries about his mother, he cares about her. Something you don't seem to be capable of anymore."

"That's not fair daddy." She argued with a childish tone. "It's not fair at all."

He rubbed Belle's soft head thoughtfully without even realize he was on the same side as the dog. "Isn't it? Young lady, you terrified her. You had no right to do that. She's been upset enough lately, with the sniper and the car-" His hand on Belle's head quieted the growling in her throat. " I understand you're just trying to protect her, but leave that to me. Your mother is my responsibility Cate and I'm going to keep her safe. No matter what Cole throws at us."

Leaving his daughter with that thought, he took Belle and lead her away, pleased when she fell into step next to him. Once they reached the living room she trotted right past him and stopped at Olivia's side a few feet from the door, wagging her dangerous brush of a tail. "For all you try to hide it, you are the sweetest man I've ever known."

Beneath his tan, Gregory blushed slightly. "You are supposed to be asleep upstairs."

She left the bottom step and smiled at him, disarming his concern. "I'm feeling better." Weaving her arm into Gregory's she pointed towards the door to the garage. "You haven't showed us the new car yet, and as the ladies of the house, Belle and I have a responsibility to give you our honest opinion."

Chuckling he let her lead him out to the new Jaguar. As he expected, Olivia gave him a confused look when she looked it over. "I thought you were going to get another convertible."

Opening the passenger door for her, he shrugged innocently. "I liked this one."

Sliding into the dark leather seats, she giggled and placed her hand on the gear shifter as he got in across from her. "Don't tell me, it's some kind of super-powered monstrousity under the hood,"

"I liked the color." He said softly as he lowered his hand over hers. "It was reminded me of you." Pausing, he moved to kiss her, preventing her from commenting on his weakness for the blue of her eyes. Besides, we needed a back seat. Dammed impossible to fit a car seat in the convertible."

"You bought the car for the baby." Olivia realized as she sat back in her seat. "You passed up another shot at the convertible for our baby. You are getting soft."

Gregory ignored her comment as he started the car. "We'll take it down the shore and watch the stars come out." He reached around his seat to open the back door and let Belle into the back. "I think you learn to adapt to the hard top. This sunroof is amazing."

Belle stuck her head between the seats long enough to lick Olivia's cheek before settling down with her head out the window. Shaking her head, she tried to figure out if she had ever heard of a man getting gentler during a midlife crisis. "I love you, I just do."

That Wednesday was Casey's first day back and Gregory was relieved. He hadn't let Olivia schedule anything that took her out of the building while Casey had been gone, and she was getting restless. Leaving her responsibilities at the radio station to her CEO didn't make her very happy and she'd been relentless in her complaints about his overzealousness.

Of course his nagging suspicion that Cole had been quiet because he had been planning something terrible was just a gut feeling, just his overprotective mind at work.

Casey stopped in just before nine as he had requested. "Good morning." He started with a cheerful smile. The sling was gone, and though his left arm seemed stiff, it took Gregory's detailed perception to notice it.

Looking up from his computer with a grateful smile, Gregory pointed at the chair across from his desk. "Olivia and I came in early this morning, so I'm sure you'll find her with quite a list of things for you to do today. Don't let her wear you out now."

Casey chuckled easily. "I promise to keep an eye on my limits. I'm glad Mrs. Rich-" Gregory's look reminded him of her request. "Olivia," he corrected, still feeling a little nervous addressing her by her first name. "Is doing so well."

Straightening some loose papers, Gregory looked down at them instead of making eye contact. "She touches her face."

"I'm sorry?"

Lifting his eyes to Casey's honest face, he repeated his concern. "When she's tired, or not feeling well, Olivia touches her face. I'd appreciate it if you could watch that for me. I think it goes without saying that we need to keep her condition as quiet as possible."

"Of course." Casey agreed quickly, then he paused, thinking for a moment. "Should I say something in particular? Some kind of code word?"

Gregory stood and turned to the window. "If you're out of the office, think of an excuse to get her back. If you're here, suddenly remember there's something I need her for. Olivia believes she's less transparent then she is. If you can get her in that door, I'll be able to get her home."

Standing in response, Casey nodded. "I'll keep an eye on her."

"Good." He had his hand on the door when Gregory added. "And Casey- I know Alex would be proud of you. "

As Olivia finished up the press releases for the week she stopped mid-sentence and put her hand to her forehead, taking a moment to clear her head, she smiled and continued as if she had just forgotten her place. Without Gregory's warnings this morning, he might have missed the significance of the gesture. Instead, he watched Olivia's every movement.

After only two minutes, Casey realized Gregory was as exact in his interpretation of his wife's idiosyncrasies as he seemed to be in everything else. While he observed her, Olivia read the same passage three times without seeming to see any of it. She reached for her cup, but set it down without taking a drink. Touching her forehead again, Casey watched her swallow uncomfortably before he interrupted.

He wasn't good at lying, and he hoped she wouldn't notice. "I almost forgot, but Gregory asked if you'd be willing to go over his interview with him before tomorrow."

Olivia took a moment to realize he was talking to her. "He did?"

"He did." Casey replied easily, realized that she seemed to be buying it. "I can finish these up if you want to help him with that now."

She handed the papers over to him without argument. Helping Gregory with his interview would require less reading, and the words were just making her head spin. "Okay. Thanks Casey."

He waited for her to shut the door behind her before he touched the intercom. "She's headed over." Taking the papers she'd left, Casey settled his chair and wondered what he'd know about Heather after twenty years of marriage.

Gregory had his briefcase open on his desk when she came in. Olivia paused with her hand on the door for support. "Casey said you need to talk to me about your interview?"

Smiling when he looked up at her, Gregory knew to start filling his briefcase just by looking at her eyes. She had that distracted look she invariably got when she wasn't feeling well. "I think I just need a little more coaching."

"You're always brilliant darling, I don't-" She paused, closing her eyes for a moment as she tried to regain her equilibrium. "I don't see what you need from me."

Gregory came out from his desk, crossing his office before she reopened her eyes. His sudden presence at her side surprised her as he took her arm in hand. "Is something bothering you? You seem a little distracted."

Olivia shook her head mechanically, not bothering to answer more then that.

Sliding his hand down her arm, he stopped when he took her hand in his. Her fingers were cold and the palm of her hand was sweaty. "Are you sure you're all right?"

"I don't want to cause you trouble." She protested weakly as he lead her to his desk.

Gregory laughed as he sat her down in his chair. "It's all right to cause a little trouble now and then. I married you to keep my life interesting."

Olivia brushed some imaginary lint from the lapel of his jacket. "I didn't know taking care of your sick wife was all that interesting."

His heart jumped sympathetically when she admitted she felt sick. Kneeling down in front of her, Gregory rubbed her knee gently. "Anyone who believes that must not be married to you."

Laughing, she forgot for a moment how nauseous she felt. Olivia's stomach reminded her and she put her hand over her mouth.

Running his hand over her head, he stood up and returned to his briefcase. "We're going home." Gregory decided with a firmness in his tone that denied any argument.

Olivia stood up to tell him to stop being overprotective, but the act itself was a vicious reminder that her head was swimming. Gregory dropped the papers he was tucking into his briefcase and took a step towards her. Waving him off, she had to sink back into the chair to take the weight of her legs that suddenly felt like water. "I'm sorry darling, but I think you're right."

"Don't apologize," He corrected as he snapped his briefcase shut. "Casey's more then capable of finishing your press releases. Emily's always bothering me to take more time off anyway. Did I ever tell you I have almost three months of vacation to use?"

Lowering her head for a moment, she looked up as he lowered himself to her eye level. "Good, you can be pregnant instead." Gregory chuckled softly as he lent his arms to help her to her feet. "I'm serious." Olivia continued as she tried to steady her eyes. "You're never sick, it would probably be easy for you."

He out his hand to her chin, staring into her eyes after the discomfort she was hiding. "I can't imagine what you're going through Liv, nor do I think I can tell I you how much it means to me that you are willing to carry our child."

Turning away from him towards the door, she sighed heavily. "Not that you left me much choice."

She couldn't know about the fertility drugs he had used on her. There was no chance, only Roger knew and he would take the secret to his grave. "What do you mean by that?" Gregory wondered aloud as he brought his hands to her waist.

Olivia leaned back against his chest, letting his hand cradle her not-yet rounded stomach. "I can't say no to you. When you want something, I can't resist you. I've never been able too."

Resting his head on her shoulder, he kissed her neck."I didn't mean to force you into this." The part of his conscience that insisted he tell her the truth was silent.

"You didn't force me." She retorted quickly, wondering why he had such rediculous thoughts. "You just put the idea in my head. If anything I forced it when I had Roger give me those fertility drugs. What was I thinking?" Pulling away from her arms, Olivia took a few steps and turned around to face him, suddenly exhausted. "Caitlin's right, we're just fooling ourselves."

"No." Gregory interrupted, disgusted with how much his daughter's careless words had gotten to her. "Don't even think about what she said."

Swallowing the knot in her throat that was either nausea or emotion, Olivia returned to his arms because she was starting to wonder how she was keeping her balance alone. "I didn't know I even wanted this baby until you did."

Gregory kissed gently, exploring her mouth and taking the time to compose himself before he spoke. "I wouldn't be able to do this without you."

"You could find another woman." Olivia suggested with surprising humor as she kissed his chin. "I'm sure I am not the only one who would fall victim to your charm."

"Olivia, there is no other woman." His quiet candor turned her teasing smile and brought her heart to her throat. "I couldn't have children with anyone but you. Imagining that is even harder then imagining myself pregnant."

Stopping before she replied, Olivia sagged in his arms. Her symptoms were catching up on her. "I'm taking you home."

Nodding weakly, she let him put an arm on her lower back to guide her. "I think if we stay here much longer it'll be bad for your new car."


	50. pieces

Sinking down against the wall, Olivia shook her head again as she looked at the staircase. "I can't"  
Gregory sat down on the first step next to her, trying not to sound amused. "You're just going to stay here"  
"Until my head stops spinning, yes, I am." Closing her eyes, she lowered her head to her knees. Undoing his tie as he thought about her decision, Gregory smiled at her. "Is there something you would like me to do"  
Olivia tightened her grip on her legs. "Tell your son to stop doing whatever it is he's doing. If i throw up, it's his lunch too." Letting his tie hang loosely around his neck, he moved until he was sitting next to her on the landing. She resisted for an instant as he put his arm around her shoulders. Then she gave in, letting her head rest on his chest. "Thank you for coming home with me"  
Gregory ran a gentle finger over her cheek slowly. "Did you really think I was going to stay at the office and let Casey drop you off"  
"You used too." The thought slipped out before she could censor it, and Olivia's eyes snapped open in guilt, Taking the hurt and putting it away, he realized her behavior made more sense with that in mind. "Is that why you didn't want to say anything? You thought I'd just send you home by yourself"  
Moving her head slightly against his chest was as close as she could get to nodding without inviting her head to spin faster. "You had work to do"  
Gregory laughed, surprising himself. "I always have work." She was still processing his last statement when he was suddenly gone from her side. He was standing above her, suggesting she try her feet again as he set his hands under her arms and lifted. "We should get you to bed"  
Olivia remained standing because she was surrounded on all sides, between the wall, Gregory and both of his arms. "I'm not arguing with you. I'm trying to tell you I can't do it"  
"One step at a time." He suggested gently. "It's not that far Liv"  
The staircase went on forever when she looked up at it. "It looks like hell"  
Gregory coaxed her up the next step, both arms around her. "I'm not sure if I remember a never ending staircase in Dante's Inferno"  
"Dante didn't have your baby." She snapped back bitterly. "That book would have been drastically different if he was a woman." He got her up a second step. "I suppose that's true." Gregory caught her looking hopelessly at the top of the staircase and came up with another thought. "Why don't you close your eyes"  
"I'm not closing my eyes! Are you insane?" Olivia immediately retorted. "This is hard enough with my eyes open." "You're thinking about it too much." Gregory replied with his courtroom calm. "You've gone up these stairs a thousand times. Your feet know how." He counted the steps between them and the second floor, thirteen was one of his lucky numbers. "Olivia- trust me"  
She made a disbelieving noise in the back of her throat. "Trust me." He repeated again. "Close your eyes, I won't let anything happen to you." "Okay." She agreed without being at all convinced. Twelve, eleven, ten steps to the second floor. "Rose said we got a letter from Sean today. You make it up to bed, and I'll read it to you"  
Seven steps left. Olivia paused, struggling to swallow her nausea. "Now you're bribing me?" Gregory chuckled dryly. "It seems to be working." Four steps. "He wrote back sooner then I expected"  
"He's always been a good boy." She reminded him quietly. "Always such a good boy." Gregory kissed her temple, rubbing the hair he moved aside between his fingers. "Open your eyes sweetheart." The doorway to their bedroom was simply beautiful. Olivia let out the breath from her chest, starting to go limp against him. "Hey-" "Dizzy." She complained weakly, bringing her hand to her face as her view of the desperate concern on his face faded to gray for a moment. "Just got worse for a moment"  
"Olivia we're going to walk over to the bed and sit down. Then I'll go downstairs and get Sean's letter." Gregory's voice was something she could focus on. A shaft of light in the darkness around her. "You'll be fine." She held his eyes in hers as long as she could, but her body wasn't responding. Leaning against the doorframe helped somewhat, but it was just delaying the inevitable. Her body was ready to collapse. He finally gave up and lifted her into his arms. Steadying the weight of her body, he felt her cold hand on the back of his neck as she held on.  
"I'm sorry"  
"Not your fault." Gregory assured her as he slowly crossed the bedroom. "Should have brought you home sooner." As he lowered her onto the bed, she tried again to apologize. "I don't know where this came from." Olivia admitted with a trace of fear in her voice. "I haven't been this bad before." He reached over her, taking the pillows from his side of the bed and tucking them being her back. "You were a little younger the last time we had a baby"  
Patting his shoulder, she was careful not to move her head. "I guess that's it, isn't it? I'm just not as young as I used to be." "I'm going to go get Sean's letter, all right?" Gregory felt the cold knot of concern in his stomach ease a little now that she was safe in bed. "Don't go anywhere"  
"Little chance of that I think." Her sardonic smile made him chuckle as he stood up. "I'll be right back sweetheart." Gregory left the bedroom door open, just in case. Belle greeted him with a swish of her tail as she bounced in with Ethan from their walk. Ethan gave him a wave as he disconnected the leash from her collar. "You're home early"  
The dog insisted on sniffing his hands and his expensive gray suit. Gregory gave in and put out his left hand for her nose. "Olivia's not feeling well." "Oh, sorry to hear that." He put the leash away in the hall closet, and Ethan's brow furrowed sympathetically as he turned back to him. "Does she need anything"  
Gregory shook his head as he tucked his hands into his pockets. "Just some rest and I think she'll be fine, but I'd like to check in with your father. Do you know if he's at his apartment"  
Ethan looked at his watch, his father was usually home from the hospital by now. Nodding as he pulled a rope chew toy from under the sofa for Belle, he dangling it in front of her nose as she jumped for it. "Probably. I think Bette has a cell if you can't reach him there. Do you need the number?" "No, no I've got it. Thanks." Gregory ducked into his study, picking up the mail from his desk. Dropping the official letters back to his desk he kept the hand-addressed envelope from Manchester in his hand. There was one more, a card without a return address or a stamp. It must have been hand-delivered that morning. He didn't recognize the hand that had written "Gregory and Olivia Richards" was neat, but distinctly masculine. It felt stiff and heavy, like an invitation and he reached for his letter opener curiously. He slit open Sean's letter first and put it in his pants pocket. Taking off his suit jacket and dropping it over the back of his chair, he tore through the envelope of the mysterious invitation. It would only take a moment to read it, then he could get back upstairs to Olivia.  
The card was expensive parchment embossed with gold, and Gregory pulled it and turned it right to read it. Instead of an invitation, it only had a single word. "Congratulations." Beneath it was a simple design of a child's toy blocks. The significance of that hit him in the gut like a ton of bricks and he flipped it open. Something that had been folded and stuck inside fell to his desk like a dead leaf. The inside of the card was blank except for four little words written in the same neat masculine hand.  
"I know your secret"  
His hand crumpled the card the bottom of the card. Destroying the stiff paper before he forced himself to drop it. Gregory's steely logic told him it was evidence and he had to keep it intact. Lashing out at the silver framed photograph on his desk, he vented his rage. Striking it hard enough to send it flying into the wall, the glass shattered and the picture of Caitlin and Olivia fluttered out into the wreckage. Remembering the insert in the card, Gregory looked down at his desk. What had been in the card? It was glossy paper and folded in on itself. It was a brochure, one of the many medical pamphlets he recognized from lining the wall in hospital. That struck him as odd through the burning rage in his heart. Listening to his blood pound in his ears, Olivia's face flashed in front of his vision as he opened the brochure. He only needed to glance it for a moment before he was overcome by his fury. Gregory paused for a few beats of his raging heartbeat. Then he lowered his arm to the desk and shoved everything on it over the edge to the floor. The phone smashed on the floor, plastic breaking apart. Ethan came in through the door, Belle sneaking around his legs to check on the mess. Gregory couldn't speak to him. He couldn't even look at the young man. Ethan took in the the mess on the floor as he picked up the crumpled card and the brochure. He started to speak, but shut his mouth. He couldn't think of anything to say. He could hear Gregory's forced breathing through his nose.  
Reading over everything again, the younger man found his voice. "I'm going to call detective Torres and my dad from the living room." Leaving Gregory standing over the broken mess in of his study, Ethan went for the phone. The medical brochure that made both of their blood run cold was still in his hand as he picked up it up to dial. Ethan looked it over again as he rang through to the police department. He couldn't imagine what he'd do in Gregory's position. The pamphlet was titled 'Dealing with Miscarriage.' Just looking at it made him sick to his stomach.   
Gregory's entire world had shut down to those four maddening words. "I know your secret." The brochure about miscarriage was just the acid in the wound. Of course the bastard would go straight for their baby. Cole knew enough to target Olivia to get to him, Their baby was the next step. Giving up wasn't an option. He didn't give up. It wasn't even about the jewels. He would cram the jewels down Cole's throat and he could die choking on them.  
That slowed his heart slightly. Picturing Cole begging for his life like the coward he was gave his rage an outlet. He shut the door to his study. The mess could wait. "Gregory what was that noise?" The sound of Olivia's voice from upstairs brought back the chill grasp of fear. Terror he couldn't control as easily as his anger. Ethan was on the phone, speaking quickly with the police department. When Gregory looked at him, he covered the mouthpiece to explain. "Detective Torres will come alone, he'll be discreet"  
Desperate for an explanation, Gregory's eyes fell on Belle as she returned to her chew rope. "Nothing," He called up quickly. "Just Belle, knocking a few things off my desk with that tail of hers." The dog looked up when she heard her name, but went back to her playing contentedly when he didn't say anything else. "I'll be up in a moment"  
Ethan hung up the phone and started to dial his father. "I've got this. Dad will talk to the police. You go." Pausing at the foot of the stairs, Gregory made himself smile as he started up. "That dog of yours thinks she's less then half as big as she is. Wants to run around the house and play like she's Spike's size." Standing in the doorway of their bedroom, Olivia looked as stable as a palm tree in a typhoon. His fear jumped back into his throat, and his smile started to become painful. "I told you not to get up." He grabbed her arms to escort her back to bed.  
"I'm all right Gregory. I don't need you to hover around me, I can stand up by myself." Her stubborn desire to convince him she was all right would have been endearing if it wasn't so frightening. She pulled away from his hands, more frustrated with her own body's failure to listen to her mind than with him, but helpless to do anything about herself.  
Gregory withdrew his hands, dropping them to his sides and biting back his sigh of exasperation. Taking care of her was far easier when she would just let him. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out Sean's folded letter and handed it to her as he sat down on the loveseat on the end of the bed. "I'll read it when you're done"  
Her legs weren't going to let her head gracefully back to him, and she stopped where she was, clinging to the back of her chair at the vanity for support. Olivia waited, wondering if she was going to be able to walk to his side. Letting go of the chair turned out to be more foolish than anything else and she would have lost her balance entirely if he hadn't jumped up and grabbed her. Gregory wrapped his arms around her waist. "You're right." He reminded her sarcastically as he led her back to the bed. "You don't need me." "I don't want to need you." She snapped at him as he sat her down and reached for her shoes. "I hate feeling like this." Setting her shoes aside, Gregory rested his hands on her knees. "It'll get better Liv"  
"When's it going to get better Gregory?" The bitter edge was back in her voice, and he realized she had reached her limit. "Tomorrow? Next week? A month from now"  
He had to shrug apologetically as he rubbed her thighs. "I don't know when"  
Olivia sat back in bed, fighting a losing battle with her hormones. "Oh then it's easy for you to say it'll just get better isn't it?" Gregory buried a smile behind his hand as he stood up to retrieve Sean's letter from the floor. She didn't realize how attractive her stubborn streak could be, how much her passionate side intrigued him. "I'm sorry Liv." She gave him a dirty look, envying the way he could just bend down and pick up Sean's letter without having the world spin around him. "That's all you can say isn't it? You're sorry, and you're sure I'll feel better eventually. You really do know how to be helpful don't you darling"  
There were a hundred things he wanted to say. Part of him just wanted to take her away. Pack up and drive, fly or sail her as far away from Sunset Beach as he could. Instead, he buried his fear away with his anger and waved Sean's letter at her gently. "So I won't talk anymore. I'll just tell you read you what Sean's doing"  
He pulled off his shoes and settled next to her on the bed. "You do still want to hear Sean's letter don't you"  
"Yes darling." Olivia slipped her hand under his arm as a peace offering.  
Gregory lifted up the letter and cleared his throat. "Dear dad. Thanks for writing me. Somehow mom's letters always seem to show up just when I'm starting to get homesick. It was a nice surprise to have you write dad. Lillian asked me to remind you that she'll take you on whenever you have an international case in England. The manor is beautiful, just like Ethan said it was. Though it is taking me a little time to get used to living in a house with gargoyles and secret passageways"  
Olivia smiled slightly, thinking of the gargoyles that had terrified her as a child on the Baxter Manorhouse. Gregory slipped his free hand around her shoulders and kept reading. "I'm glad mom's feeling better. I know you said not to worry about her, but it's hard to be so far away from everything at home and not worry"  
She sat up, pulling away from his hand in surprise. "You lied to Sean." "Of course I did." Gregory set the letter down and raised an eyebrow at her. "What did you expect me to tell him?" He paused, and pretended to be dictating a letter. "Dear Sean, your mother and I went home from work early today because she wasn't feeling well. She insists she's fine, but nearly didn't make it up the stairs when we got home. But, don't worry, She's just pregnant"  
"Gregory-" She reprimanded him firmly, but he continued to drive his point home. "Sorry we didn't tell you, but we wanted to keep it a secret. Forgive us for being paranoid, but there's a man trying to kill her!" He waved a hand wildly at the window, as if Cole was right outside it.  
Olivia grabbed his hand. "Stop"  
"A man you seemed to have forgotten entirely about-" He reminded, losing a bit of ground in the death grip he had on his fear. "-As you keep insisting you don't need me to protect you"  
"I don't need you hovering around me like I'm some fragile artifact." Olivia pointed out angrily. "And I certainly don't need you patronizing me"  
Any other day, he would have had a better reply, but even Gregory could not force his fear to disappate. Unexpressed, it found other ways out of his heart. "I wouldn't have to patronize you if you took better care of yourself"  
His bitter accusation cut at her heart. "This isn't my fault!" Olivia cried miserably as she threw her hands up in defense. "I didn't ask to be sick, and believe me, as much of an inconvenience as it is for you to have to deal with me while I'm sick. It's far worse to be the one who can't walk across the room by herself"  
"I didn't say you were an inconvenience." Beginning to realize how unreasonable he was being, Gregory tried to calm the situation down. "You don't have too." Olivia was too far gone to even listen to him anymore. She was tired, her head was foggy and her entire body hurt as if she had been running a marathon. Instead of seeing the honest apology in his eyes, she saw only accusation. "You had to leave work early and sit up here with me because you''re too damn overprotective to just leave me alone. Taking care of me is a waste of time that you could spend working on the hospital project"  
"And if that wasn't bad enough, you have the gall to look at me as if it's all my fault." She put her hand over her heart, tears starting to form in her eyes. "There must be something I'm doing wrong because God only knows that pregnant women don't get sick on their own. If only I took better care of myself you could still be at work where you're happy"  
Olivia's angry tears burst out of her eyes, but she kept going as they ran down her face. "But what you don't seem to understand is that I'm doing everything right. I gave up coffee. I get enough sleep. I eat what Roger tells me to and take my dammed prenatal vitamins-" "But none of it does a damn thing, I'm still tired when I get up in the morning and exhausted when I go to bed, I get nauseous in the afternoon, in the morning, and wake up in the middle of the night and feel like I'm going to throw up. My head hurts constantly and I hate it! I hate thinking about dinner and knowing I'll never be able to eat it. I hate sitting in the bathroom and wondering if it would be easier just to make myself throw up so the nausea goes away"  
Taking a trembling breath, Olivia gulped back a sob and looked away from his face. "And then I think about how much this baby means to you- to us- and I hate myself for wishing I wasn't pregnant." Gregory took the hands that were wiping tears frantically from her face and held them close in his lap. "I think about everything that's happened and then I think about what could happen and oh god, then, I feel so awful for being anything but grateful for this baby." Olivia twitched her hands in his grip and looked every in the room but at his face. She just couldn't see the disappointment that she knew would be there. Dropping her chin to her chest, she stopped caring about how hard she was crying. "What kind of woman tries to wish her child away just because she gets a little sick"  
Gregory held both of her shaking hands with one of his, and reached out with the other to clean tears from her cheeks. He followed his gentle touch with a kiss on each cheekbone, just below her eyes. Taking advantage of the pause in her torrent of emotion, he answered her rhetorical question. "The strongest, bravest, most beautiful woman I've ever known. Whom I love, very much." Olivia pulled her hands back to stem a new flood of tears. It was the way he could look into her soul and make her believe him without question that made it so hard to stare back into Gregory's brown eyes. "Oh, darling, you're- you're really not helping." Leaning towards him, she nearly collapsed into his arms when he pulled her towards him. "I wanted to change before dinner anyway." He pointed out nonchalantly as she sobbed into his shirt. Petting her head, Gregory could feel her try to laugh through her tears. He smiled gently, knowing she'd calm eventually. "I've been told some women like it when you tell them you love them. In fact, most husbands try to avoid creating bursts of tears by telling their wives how much they love them"  
Rubbing her back with one hand, he wondered aloud, "Liv, do you ever think we seem to have it backwards?" "I'm sorry darling." Olivia replied as she slowly began to catch her breath. " I think it's just me that's backwards"  
"No, don't apologize." Gregory begged softly, finding her hand and bringing it to his lips. "The rest of the world must have it wrong"  
Lifting her head to his shoulder, Olivia wondered when the sun had started to go down as she tried to breathe normally. "The whole rest of the world?" She managed to ask as he continued to slowly rub her shoulder. "The whole rest of the world." Repeating it made her smile, and Gregory picked up Sean's forgotten letter.  
"Should I finish"  
"Finish what?" "Sean's letter. Remember Sean's letter?" Gregory scrolled down for the place she had interrupted him. "Ah yes, 'it's hard to be so far from everything at home and not worry. In fact, if you and mom weren't getting along so well, I don't think I could have left at all. And then I would have missed all of this"  
"...I'll see you at Christmas. Lillian says we get to wander out in the woods, find a tree and cut it down ourselves. I've never done that before and I look forward to the experience. Give my love to mom and Caitlin, your son, Sean. P.S. How are you getting along with Belle"  
Gregory looked over the side of the bed and the St. Bernard flopped lazily on his bedroom floor. "How do you think we're getting along?" She opened an eye and closed it again with a thud of her tail. "I think I can agree to that." He reached for the nightstand and took the pad of paper and pen inside it. "Should we write him back together darling"  
Olivia's head was heavy on his shoulder, and as he craned his neck to look at her, Gregory realized she was asleep. Somewhere amid Sean's thoughtfully detailed descriptions of his campus and new classes, she had drifted off. Hoping she'd wake up feeling a bit more herself, he decided to let her sleep. "All right Belle, looks like we're going to have to write Sean instead." Another thud of tail against the floor.  
"I agree. I think he'll like that." Gregory wrote 'dear Sean' across the top of the page and looked over to the window and the encroaching darkness. He wondered what Roger and Ricardo had discovered about Cole's latest threat, but it seemed cruel to risk waking Olivia after the afternoon she'd had. Instead, he turned his thoughts to happier things.  
"On behalf of your mother, I send both our love and remind you again how proud we are of you. I suppose the leaves are starting to change on campus by now. Your mother has always been fond of fall in England. Sometimes I think she still misses the leaves. Palm trees just don't have the same romance to them"

"Yes, the credit cards and identification arrived in the mail today, just like you said it would." Cole looked over at the large open envelope on his bed. An entire new identity waited for him there. He just had one last thing to do as Cole St. John. "Good. Remember to use the accent, Olivia's heard your voice, she might recognize you if you don't sound different enough"  
Cole slipped into his faux-French accent, testing it out. "And you're sure dying my hair and wearing the glasses will be enough to keep her from recognizing my face"  
The voice on the other end laughed confidently. "Olivia may be beautiful, but she's hardly the most brilliant woman in town. She only got a look at you when she was delirious. I wouldn't worry about her. Gregory would be a problem, but he should be so distracted by her pregnancy-" The voice conveyed his deep distaste for the thought of Olivia being contaminated with Gregory's child. "That he pays you little mind. He will of course hate you, but cultivate that. If he hates you but doesn't see you as a threat, he'll ignore you"  
Ignored was the preferred state with Gregory. "I don't think he will be a problem. Caitlin's been an annoyance to him lately, she's reacting just as badly to Olivia's baby as we thought she would"  
Badly was an understatement, after his lab technician had returned the knowledge that Olivia's blood had tested positive for the elevated hormone levels associated with pregnancy, it had taken all his skills as a manipulator to keep Caitlin from rushing home to confront her parents. That storm was best saved for a later date. So he'd placated her, let her drink herself into a stupor. He had expected more of a fight from Caitlin, especially after the stories she told him of how much she hated her mother drinking. Instead she took to the bottle like a sailor, drowning her emotions in the quiet that only came from the bottom of a bottle. Cole wasn't going to doubt that alcoholism ran in the genes anymore. For now Caitlin slept. She'd be a mess when she woke up, but Cole intended to be gone when that happened.  
"Gregory's choosing to support Olivia over Caitlin?" The phone asked him in surprise. "I thought certainly he'd take his daughter's side. She's always been his favorite"  
"Well-" Cole thought for a moment. "It hasn't been the case lately. Maybe it's just the pregnancy"  
The voice liked that idea better. "It would be like Gregory to protect his spawn"  
"What should I do about it?" Cole wondered, curious how this unexpected surprise would change their plans. "How pregnant is she"  
Searching through the mass of papers on his bed, Cole dug up the one on the blood tests. "Somewhere in the third month"  
"Three months?" The voice asked in surprise. "Then that explains their sudden reconciliation perfectly. One night of misplaced passions, and she becomes pregnant. Olivia's greatest weakness of character is that she's never been able to keep anything from Gregory. Terrified of what you'll do to the baby when you find out, Gregory keeps it a secret from even his precious Caitlin. Sets up a dummy position for her at his corporation to keep an eye on his child. If we had more time we could simply wait until Gregory had what he wanted from her"  
"But, we're not going to wait, are we?" Cole drummed his fingers impatiently on the side of the phone. Six months of hanging around this backward little California town playing house with Caitlin would drive him absolutely insane.  
"No, waiting isn't an option at this point. I won't take the chance that Olivia will bond with Gregory over the baby." The voice paused in thought for a moment and Cole started going through the rest of his papers. He had a mountain of information on pregnancy to learn before implementing the next part of the plan. "Olivia has miscarried before. I couldn't get the details, but Caitlin might be able to get the story out of her father." The voice was pleased with that idea. "See that she does"  
"Shouldn't be too hard, Caitlin's only too open to suggestions." Cole wrote it down on the top of his page. "Remember that no permanent harm can be done to Olivia. I could care less about Gregory, or any of his brats, but I want Olivia"  
Cole sighed, it would be easier to get the jewels if he could just kill them both and rob Caitlin blind of her inheritance. "That's going to make it difficult"  
"You'll just have to rise to the occasion. I've given you enough financial leeway on the cards I sent you to make you a Deschanel right out of the family legends. You keep sweeping Caitlin off her feet and get into that house all right?" "All right." Cole agreed. "I'll call you as soon as I know anything more." The line went dead and Cole headed for the closet to finish changing into his black catsuit. The doorman he had bribed at the Lichfield said Roger and Bette had both left a in a hurry and didn't seem to be intend to return quickly. It fit with what he had expected. The tasteful little card he had slipped into Gregory's mail must have had the desired effect. Cole hoped Olivia had read it. He could picture her baby blue eyes turning dark in horror, the color draining from her face. Gregory might be more deserving of his brand of terrorism, but Olivia's fear was more gratifying. He wanted to be alone with her again. Like he had been in the bedroom that night when he put his hands on her throat.  
Nothing felt as good as that kind of power. Olivia had the kind of vulnerability that attracted him. When she had looked into his eyes, he saw real terror. He was going to see that again.  
First he had an apartment to break into. Stealing the jewels out from under the nose of Gregory's best friend would be quite a coup. Cole was looking forward to it.  
Bette's paper lost to Roger's scissors and she was the one elected to head upstairs and see if Gregory intended to come down at all. She crossed her fingers that she wasn't going to interrupt anything as she leaned her head close to the door. Walking into some kind of intense conversation about Cole and the kind of horrible things he wanted to do to their baby wasn't something she wanted to be involved in.  
There wasn't any yelling from the other side of the door. No crying, no throwing of breakable objects. It was a good sign. She opened the door a crack and then she could hear Gregory talking to himself softly. He wasn't waiting for answers, so she could tell it was a monologue. Knocking softly on the door, she opened it all the way. Gregory looked up from his letter to Sean, setting the paper down at his side. "What do you need Bette"  
"You talk to yourself now?" She teased with a bemused smile. "I thought Livie had a hold on that in this house"  
"I'm writing Sean, if you must know." Shifting Olivia slowly off his lap, Gregory started to extract himself from her so he could get up. I was reading when she fell asleep and I thought if I stopped reading-" "Well that's thoughtful of you." Bette realized in surprise. "Sometimes I think she might be right when she insists there's more to you then your looks"  
He raised his eyebrows in response, and answered dryly, "I'm sure Olivia's just exaggerating"  
"I would agree." She replied as he slipped away from the bed and out into the hallway with her. "How's she doing"  
Gregory's smile masked some of his concern, but Bette caught what he couldn't hide in his eyes. "Long day"  
"And she doesn't know the half of it, does she?" Leading Bette back downstairs away from the bedroom, he nodded grimly. "Of course I couldn't tell her. Can you imagine what that would do to her? Roger's already concerned with her stress level, I'll be dammed before I let that bastard Cole add to it"  
Roger got up from the couch when they came down. "Sleeping." Gregory said in answer to the unasked question. "And I'll make sure she eats when she gets up"  
The doctor filled his coffee up as he studied the other man's tired posture. "You're really getting the hang of this aren't you"  
Shaking his head in response, Gregory sighed as he sank down into the sofa. "As soon as I do I'm sure her needs will change"  
Roger flopped back down next to him, grinning over his cup. "Welcome back to the world of expectant fathers. As soon as you get one problem licked, they find a new one to torture you with"  
"Is that coffee?" Licking his lips in response, Roger tilted his head towards the bar. "Fresh a few minutes ago"  
Dragging himself back up, Gregory poured himself a cup. "Where's the good Detective and that son of yours"  
"The boy's off to the movies with that paramedic he's become so fond of. Roger shrugged as Bette kissed his cheek. "Got some kind of emergency call and stepped outside to take it. He's got your card for the fingerprint team, and Bette and I got the study cleaned up"  
"You are going to have to get a new phone though." Bette piped up as Roger played with her necklace childishly. "We couldn't fix that"  
He took a slow sip of coffee before he responded. "That's all right. I'll see that Rose picks up a new one. Thank you"  
Ricardo's reappearance stopped their conversation as he drew all of her attention. "That was the station. The Lichfield just reported a break in at your apartment doctor"  
Roger shook his head slowly and clucked his tongue in disbelief. "Busy day for Mr. St. John isn't it? All right detective. We'll follow you over and assess the damages." Patting Gregory's shoulder sympathetically, he drained his coffee cup. "Seems like your little trap worked"  
"We'll see." Bette warned as she collected her purse. "This devil's been pretty good at not leaving any evidence so far"  
Looking incredibly pleased with himself, Roger winked at her. "You didn't see what I did to the inside of the safe. We should be able to catch at least his pretty mug this time"  
"I'll let you get to it then detective." Gregory looked back upstairs and then down at his watch. It was only nine. Olivia might still be talked into eating if he got to work on something now. "I'm sorry if any of your things were damaged"  
Roger put up his hands nonchalantly. "Can always buy more." When Bette coughed he corrected himself. "I mean, let Bette shop for me because of her superior taste in all things"  
"Oh, you are good aren't you?" She laughed as they headed outside after the detective. "So trainable"

Olivia woke alone in her darkened bedroom. The last thing she remembered was Gregory reading her Sean's letter from England. The letter was folded neatly on the nightstand on Gregory's side of the bed. Rubbing her temples, she sat up slowly. Her head felt nearly normal again and she wasn't sure how long she had slept. It had still been light out when she fell asleep hadn't it? It couldn't be that late if Gregory wasn't here. He never let her sleep in her clothes, even when she tried too. When she finally remember and looked down at her watch it was a quarter after ten. She'd slept the entire afternoon away, but the quiet way the bedroom didn't spin around her was enough to make the the lost time entirely worthwhile.  
Still, she left the bed cautiously, trying her feet for a moment with her hands still firmly on the side of the bed before she put her full weight on them. Olivia was pleased when her legs held her weight without complaint. Belle fell in step behind her as they went downstairs in search of Gregory. He'd left the bedroom door closed, apparently concerned that she sleep as much as possible. He was going to lose points in his reputation if he kept this kind of behavior up. The living room was quiet and the study door was open and dark. Resting her hand on Belle's head, she was grateful for the presence of the large fluffy animal. Being alone made her anxious with Cole still out there somewhere. "Must be in the kitchen." Gregory certainly wouldn't leave the her alone and that was the last room left. "Don't you think"  
Gregory took his attention off of the stack of paperwork in front of him and pulled out the stool next to him at the counter when she came in. "I was wondering if you'd come back to the land of the living at all tonight"  
Yawning slightly, Olivia crawled onto the stool next to him. "What are you doing down here"  
"Just some accounting." Whatever it was, he tucked it away into his briefcase and shut it "And a little baking"  
She broke into a surprised smile. "Baking"  
Pointing to the timer over the oven, he rested a hand on her shoulder. "Thought I'd make you something, just in case you were hungry when you got up"  
Olivia lowered her head to brush his hand. "You're spoiling me"  
"Is it working?" Teasing her brought a cheer into his eyes that she missed when life was so serious. He could bring so much warmth into her chest when he was happy. "I think so." Olivia lowered her chin to her hand as he got up to shut off his timer. "What did you make for me"  
"Something your father used to make." Gregory answered mysteriously. "Something it has taken me years to get right"  
Giggling, she looked up at the ceiling as she tried to access her memories. "The only thing I remember my father cooking at the moment is chicken pie with potatoes, and that's far too British for you to make"  
"Wrong category entirely too." He pointed out as he retrieved his surprise from the over. "I knew I'd never be able to convince you to eat dinner"  
Olivia turned her eyes back to him curiously. "I made dessert"  
She nearly clapped her hands together in delight when she recognized the smell. "Toffee pudding"  
"There you go. I knew you'd get it eventually." Gregory set the pan up to cool on the rack while he went to the cupboard for plates. "You stay there. It'll take a few minutes to cool enough to eat anyway"  
"You must have been worried about me-" Olivia began, staring guiltily at her hands. "If you resorted to toffee pudding"  
"Let's say concerned."' He offered as he opened the silverware drawer. "Concerned makes me sound less over-protective and patronizing"  
"Darling, you're not really patronizing." She replied with a sigh as he cut into his pudding. "I was just upset"  
Gregory set the plate of steaming toffee pudding in front of her on the counter with a pre-occupied smile. "I was patronizing. You're just too guilty from your little outburst to mention it"  
Blowing across the top, she watched steam curl upwards. "I did get a little emotional, didn't I"  
Gregory chuckled as he held the first bite in front of her on her fork. "Perfectly acceptable under the circumstances. I just wish"  
Licking the sticky sauce from her lips, Olivia took the fork from his hand and started demolishing her pudding. "What? What do you wish"  
"I understood it better." He explained, sheepishly running a hand through his hair. "I know you're under a lot of stress. I know your hormones are dancing all over the map- I've even done this before"  
"But I'm still as confusing as I was the first time." She giggled, patting his arm sympathetically. "I'm not sure what to tell you darling. I'm afraid I'm as lost as you are"  
He scooted his stool closer to her, wrapping an arm around her back and kissing her neck. "At least I'm in good company." 


	51. truth at last

"Why haven't we heard anything about this young man before?" Olivia wondered as she finished with her curling iron and set it aside.

"I don't know. She says she wanted to wait until our lives were a little less chaotic." Gregory tossed back a tie before selecting a smart silver one. "Meaning she didn't want to introduce us until she was sure we'd behave."

Still fretting with her hair, Olivia stopped, realizing what she was doing when he lowered his hands to her shoulders. "We haven't been that bad, have we?"

"Maybe she's just self-conscious." He supposed as he massaged her shoulders. "She must really like him, whoever he is."

She sighed, closing her eyes and leaning back into his touch. "You're not thinking of Caitlin are you?"

He laughed, dropping into a suggestive tone. "I was thinking about what we could do after we get home from dinner."

"Were you?" Getting up reluctantly, she put her arms around his neck for a moment. "I know it's been a few days-"

Gregory cut off the apology he knew was coming. "You've been tired Liv. I understand that."

Running her tongue suggestively over his bottom lip, she looked into his eyes gratefully. "I'm not tired tonight."

He teased her back through the dark gray satin of her dress. "I'll remember that."

Olivia took a step towards him, just close enough for her breasts to brush against his chest. "I'm counting on it."

Cole ran his hands through his newly light brown hair and then put on his glasses. "What do you think of the new me?"

Caitlin studied him thoughtfully. "Still so handsome." She straightened his tie, trying to get used to the glasses. "But I'm not sure if I like that hair. It's too different."

He shook his head, hoping she was joking. "Different is the idea. Your parents have my mug shot. They know what I look like."

"I don't think I like the accent." She complained as she adjusted the tight red dress she had from her trip to Monte Carlo. "Couldn't you do Italian or something sexier?"

"Deschanel is a French name." Cole pointed out in his fake accent. "It wouldn't make sense for me to be Italian." He opened the door from their new apartment in the Lichfield. "Do you remember the backstory we talked about? I'm sure your father will ask a bunch of questions."

Caitlin nodded as she punched the button in the beautiful glass elevator. "I remember-"

"Julian and I met in Paris." Caitlin gushed as Cole filled her wine glass. "I was lost on my way to the Louvre and he rescued me when my French failed. Isn't that romantic?"

"It sounds lovely darling." Olivia replied as she dipped her bread in the plate of olive oil. "Your father's never liked Paris...too crowded."

Gregory took the bread from her hand and teased her with it. "Florence was our city, but please, go on."

Cole jumped in, smiling into Caitlin's eyes like she was the only woman in the world. "And as soon as I looked at her, I knew I wanted her."

"And you'd been living in Paris with your Grandmother?" Gregory asked as he past the bottle of wine on to Caitlin without taking any, "The infamous Julianna Deschanel?"

"My namesake." Cole said with a soft grin. "The woman who took me in when my mother disappeared."

"What about your father?" Olivia wondered softly as the dark eyes behind the glasses bored into her. "I never knew AJ had a son."

"He didn't either. My father is a wanderer, a free spirit. Even his own mother had trouble finding him. We didn't meet until I was nearly grown." Cole didn't take his gaze off Olivia's face. Studying the fine lines around her eyes that made him proud that he had etched them there.

"That must have been difficult for you." Gregory offered as he made room for his dinner in front of him.

"I had my grandmother when I was a boy and now I have Caitlin to look after me." Cole took her hand and Caitlin kissed his cheek.

Olivia toyed with her pasta before taking a bite. There was something about him that made her uncomfortable, something in his eyes that was familiar. Maybe it was just his connection to AJ.

Cole watched as her mouth closed around the fork, admiring the fullness of her lips.

Gregory looked at the blind adoration in his daughter's eyes and shuddered inwardly. "I'm glad you appreciate our daughter as much as we do."

Caitlin muttered into her napkin that they don't give a damn about her, but she smiled when she put it back down into her lap. "Julian's so sweet to me. He bought me this for the one month anniversary of our first date." She extended her wrist to show them a diamond tennis bracelet Cole had presented her with just that morning as part of their cover.

Gregory examined it and nodded as Caitlin moved her arm over to show her mother. "It's beautiful sweetheart."

Olivia agreed, setting down her fork after barely eating any of her dinner. "You have your father's taste."

Placing her hand on her thigh, Gregory subtlely inquired about why she wasn't eating without saying a word. She took his hand and squeezed it. "Doesn't it look like something AJ would have picked out?"

Caitlin took her wrist back and took a long sip of her white wine. "I suppose good taste just runs in the Deschanel family."

Cole smiled inwardly when he realized Olivia was correct. AJ had marked the woman he had stolen it from, so she was right, in a manner of speaking. "My father does try to make up for the time we lost as much as he can now that we know each other."

Caitlin muttered something in her napkin again, and this time Gregory caught the end of it.

"Is there something you'd like to add Caitlin?" He pressed with a raised eyebrow.

"I was just saying that it seems like AJ's doing his best to be a good father." She replied with a forced smile. "Which is wonderful for Julian."

Cole smiled pleasantly, sensing the electrical tension in the air between Caitlin and her parents. She was a bomb waiting for a trigger and he was only too happy to oblige. "Caitlin's too sweet to me, we have much in common. Our love of art and the French countryside. Our shared affinity for jewelry and fine fashion-"

He paused, taking the time to take a bite of his veal before adding the clincher. "How much we both love children."

That had the desired effect. Olivia choked on her water and started coughing. Gregory rubbed her back as he tried to hide his glower.

Caitlin just smiled, her bright blue eyes icing over. "And we do." She added with the same false cheerfulness. "Julian and I both just love babies. In fact we were just talking about that before we came to meet you for dinner. How much you both must be expecting that pitter-patter of little feet coming around any corner."

Olivia stopped coughing, but she stared miserably across the table at her daughter, unable to hide the guilt in her face. "What do you mean darling?"

Gregory's hand closed down hard on her wrist. "Yes Caitlin, I'd love to know what you mean by that."

Cole jumped in, trying to seem gallant and oblivious at the same time. "We were just talking-"

"Yes,and you mentioned Julian, how odd it must be for my parents to have all their children grown up and gone. With Sean in school and me nearly moved out, it must seem like a house full of ghosts without the sounds of children around." Her smile didn't have any warmth in it at all. "We just thought you'd be missing your babies terribly."

Olivia looked from her plate to Gregory and then at Caitlin. Cole watched with barely controlled amusement at the obvious struggle going on in her mind.

Gregory intervened, staring down his daughter like a troublesome client. "It's quiet, yes, but we knew you and Sean were going to move out and on with your lives. Didn't we Liv?"

It took her a few seconds to respond, as if she had lost to ability to find the words. "Yes, yes we did. But we do miss you. You're right Caitlin, you're so busy it's like you've moved out too."

Her daughter's stare lost what little emotion it had left, going completely stone cold. "I didn't think you'd noticed I was gone mom-"

Gregory cleared his throat, beginning a reprimand, but Caitlin cut him off.

"Oh don't you start defending her." She snapped, keeping her tone frighteningly even. "You're just as bad. Why do you think I had to ask your secretaries to set up dinner? It was bad enough when it was just you working dad, but now you're both gone all day, and you're with mom every moment when you get home."

Olivia's guilt settled in a cold mass in the pit of her stomach. Cole watched her hands twitch with her napkin. She must have been dying to tell Caitlin the truth. It was too late. The truth was going to arrive in the most spectacular fashion and he could sit back in his chair and watch.

"What is it dad? You're afraid if you leave her alone for a second she'll start drinking again?" The bitterness in her tone was ascerbic and tore through the restaurant. "Or maybe you bought her little melodrama of how sick she is."

"Caitlin, that's enough!" Gregory warned, the small hairs on the back of his neck starting to stand up.

"Which one is it dad? What could possibly be going on with mom that you need to be with her every moment of the day?" She pushed back her chair, gaining volume as she looked from one parent to the other.

Gregory's jaw was set and his hands clenched beneath the table as she got up out of her chair. "Take your seat young lady. This isn't the place-"

"Dad's not going to tell me." Caitlin purred as she circled to behind her mother's chair. "What about you mom? You've been quiet all evening." She rested her hands on the back of Olivia's chair, smiling the same icy smile. "Maybe you just aren't feeling well?"

She slid her hand down her mother's arm, looking at her in a grotesque mockery of concern. "Let me guess. You're nauseous-"

Olivia shook her head, swallowing against the rock in her stomach.

"Maybe you're dizzy or a little faint today?" A hollow laugh bubbled up in her throat as she stood up again. Caitlin tilted her head to the side and put a hand on her chin, pretending to be lost in thought. "I wonder, what could possibly have those symptoms?"

Gregory's hand closed over Caitlin's, prying her fingers off the back of Olivia's chair. The menace wasn't lost on her, and her laughter continued. "I suppose neither of you thought I had a right to know, after all, I'm just your daughter. It's perfectly acceptable to lie to me."

Taking a step away, she was quiet for a moment before slamming her hand down to the table hard enough to spill Olivia's water glass. Everyone jumped back from the table and the cascade of water. Conversations around them ground to a halt, and each one of them felt the eyes of strangers take in their growing drama.

Gregory careful to put himself between his wife and his daughter. "That's enough." He repeated with equal malice. "This dinner is over."

"Stop." Olivia begged as she tugged at his arm. "Don't be angry with her. Caitlin's right. She's completely right, we have been lying to her."

Caitlin crossed her arms over her chest and turned back to her mother. The guilt-stricken resignation on Olivia's face was almost as gratifying as the dark fury in her father's eyes.

Shaking his head no, Gregory looked from one woman to the other, unable to prevent Olivia from confessing in a whisper.

"I'm pregnant."

"I'm sorry mom." Caitlin apologized with a triumphant glare at her father. "I almost didn't hear you, let me make sure I get this right-"

She took a look around the full restaurant, knowing her father would remember this dinner as long as he lived. Instead of getting lost in the shuffle of plates and bodies around them like her mother's confession, Caitlin's voice carried over the uncomfortable stillness filling the room, echoing into every corner. "You're pregnant!"

The shuffle dropped away into silence. The kind of uncomfortable quiet that happens when an entire crowd of people stops speaking at once. "Of course you are! That's exactly what any responsible woman in your position would do when someone was trying to kill her."

"Well miss high and mighty," Olivia's voice startled Caitlin. She had expected her mother to cower behind her father, to tremble in fear because her secret was now going to be all over the town. "It's easy to judge when it's not your life."

Even Gregory was surprised as his wife pushed past him to face down his daughter. Olivia took his hand, uniting their positions. "Your father and I lied to you. We're not proud of that, but as parents we have to try to do what's best for our children."

Gregory caught her meaning and backed her up. "All of our children."

"Especially the most vulnerable one." Olivia finished with quiet conviction. "Darling you're nearly a grown woman. You don't need us to protect you all of the time. Your father and I needed-"

"It's always about you and daddy lately isn't it?" Caitlin interrupted, her hands shaking in fury. "God, you're so selfish!"

"We lied to you because we needed to protect this baby." Olivia's hand went to her stomach, forming a fragile barrier between her unborn child and the rest of the world. Gregory took a step closer to her, adding his hand over hers.

"We thought, we hoped, you'd understand." She explained calmly, ignoring the way the eyes of everyone else in the restaurant seemed to be a captive audience to their little scene.

She picked up one of the wine glasses that had remained upright when she had shaken the table. Looking at the liquid thoughtfully for a moment, she tilted it back, studying the red wine Cole had choosen. "Looks a little like blood doesn't it?"

Gregory tightened his grip on his wife, unable to decide what he needed to protect her from more. His wayward daughter, or the maniac, Cole. "What are you getting at?"

Swirling the glass slowly, the young blonde looked around the restaurant. The eyes on her were strangely gratifying. Finally her parents were going to exposed as the frauds they were and to the very people who looked up to and admired them.

"It's not the secret that bothers me." Taking a slow breath, she seemed to be calming down. Relieved, Gregory started to thank her for being reasonable, but she threw the glass of red wine over both of them.

The red liquid splashed across their clothes, staining the white of Gregory's shirt and Olivia's dress. Stunned, neither of them moved. Across the room someone dropped a knife and it clattered against the floor. "When Cole kills that poor, innocent baby, there's going to be blood all over both of you."

Without even waiting for a reply, Caitlin took her purse from the back of her chair. Walking quickly out of the restaurant, she whirled back for one last parting thought. "But I'm glad you told me. After all- the truth will set you free."


	52. aftermath

Cole hid his smile behind a look of concern. "I'll follow her, make sure she's all right."

Gregory waved him off, ignoring him. Olivia closed her eyes, leaning her head back against his shoulder and pulling in his strength. She gave herself just long enough to pull herself together before she turned around, taking his hand in hers.

"I'm going to pay the waiter darling."

Gregory continued staring at the doorway Caitlin had just disappeared through. His shoulders were stone as she brushed her hand across them. The wine had seeped into his jacket, marring it like the blood stains Caitlin alluded to. He didn't seem to care, he didn't even seem to notice.

Olivia had to leave him standing by the mess of their table to track down their waiter. He didn't say a word as she wrote out the check. She caught his eyes running over the wine drying on the expensive satin of her dress. "First time I've worn it."

The waiter eyed the fabric and shook his head sadly. "It's a real shame. It's a beautiful dress."

Closing her purse, she sighed heavily. "Hopefully it'll be the only thing that was ruined tonight."

Gregory was gone when she walked past the mess at their table. When she returned all the conversations in the room ground to a halt again. She kept her head up as she walked out of Grenadines alone. As she reached the door, Olivia could hear the whispers start. Something would have to be done to quiet the gossip. Damage control was going to be complicated this time.

Their baby had been pulled out of the secrecy they had tried to cloak it in. Some of the magic was gone with it. Wanted suddenly to apologize for the rude introduction, "You should be celebrated." She whispered, walking towards the car. "No matter what Caitlin says."

Gregory was sitting on the hood of the new blue Jaguar, feet on the bumper and elbows balanced on his knees. His head was in his hands. Olivia paused next to him, leaning back against the car and resting her hand on the back of his head. "Penny for your thoughts?"

Lifting his head, he looked at her with confusion. "I'd think you knew."

Her fingers ran inside his collar, warm and gentle. "Oh I know what you're thinking. I'm just wondering if you'd like to talk about it."

He ran his hand through his hair, but reached for her with the other arm. "Now?"

Olivia slid up on the hood of the car next to him, slipping her feet out of her heels and letting them drop to the pavement. "Darling, this car's not going anywhere until you get in it."

"It's a good point." Hugging her to his side with one arm, he agreed with a tired sigh. "Don't know where to go from here."

Dropping her head to his shoulder reminding her how much fragility he hid behind his wall of strength. "I was thinking we'd go home."

Gregory toyed with her fingers, trying not to think of Caitlin's Deschanel bracelet and the smug young man who bought it for her. "Simple solution Liv."

She fidgeted with the folds of her dress, rearranging them around her ankles. "What else can we do? Caitlin's not coming home any time soon and even if we did, neither of us know what to say to her. I don't even know how she got so angry."

"Maybe we just haven't been listening." He pointed out softly as he looked down at the pavement. "I've been sitting out here, thinking, trying to figure out where we wrong with her. What we did that made her so-"

Olivia ran her finger down his cheek. "Shh- We'll have plenty of time to worry about what we've done. Whatever it was, it took us twenty years to do it. We certainly won't undo it tonight." Kissing his cheek, she slid off the hood of the Jaguar. "Darling, let's go home."

When she bent her knees to pick up her shoes, Gregory stopped her and retrieved them instead. "You're right. There's nothing we can do tonight."

Taking the shoes from him, Olivia tucked them into her hand, sighing as she closed her eyes for a moment. "Except go home and figure out what we're going to to do about the baby."

"What about the baby?" Gregory grabbed her arm, suddenly concerned. "Is the baby all right?"

Her eyes snapped back open, and she just looked at him for a beat. The dead space only enraged his concern. "Olivia?"

Quieting the demand in his tone, Olivia removed his hand from her arm and replaced it on her belly, calming his misunderstanding. "He's perfect."

Gregory's breath slipped out of his chest in relief and she started to laugh as he kissed her forehead.

"But I think his parents definitely need to go home." Olivia added as she reached into his suit pocket for the car keys. Letting him kiss her as she tucked the keys into his hand. "We'll deal with his sister later. When she's calmed down a little. Okay?"

A thousand fractured protests died when he got lost in the promise of her eyes and forgot all about them. "Okay."

Opening the front door made enough noise to shock the two young people on the sofa away from each other. Instead of blushing, Ethan and Phebe started to laugh as Olivia flipped the lights on. Gregory shut the door and turned around to see the imperious eye she was giving the two youngsters.

"Glad you've been making yourself at home." She teased dryly as Gregory's hand found her lower back. Looking over the young Baxter boy and his paramour, she was envious the innocence of their rumpled hair. Spending the night making out of the sofa in the darkened living room would have been far superior to the dinner theater they'd put on for the society of Sunset Beach.

Phebe's grin was entirely unapologetic. "How was Grenadines?"

"And what happened to your dress?" Ethan added, scooting closer to the young woman, making room on the sofa. Gregory watched his wife drop her purse onto the coffee table and sink into the sofa next to the younger man. Amazingly, Olivia smiled sadly as she looked down at the scattered stains of red across her chest and stomach.

"We had a bit of a heated discussion with Caitlin."

Leaving Olivia to be social with the two young people, Gregory paced into the study. He wanted to hear the life story of this "Julian Deschanel" from someone much more reliable then AJ's supposed son. Closing his fingers tightly around the receiver, he paused before dialing. No matter what Olivia believed, he wanted to call Caitlin and force her home to explain herself. Drag her into his study and force tell him what in the world she was thinking.

She wasn't answering her cellular phone and she hadn't given him the number for that Deschanel's apartment. He could call the front desk at the Lichfield, but he didn't want to talk to someone- he wanted Caitlin. He wanted to wring her neck.

The knock on the door reminded him that he wasn't alone in the house. "I'll be done in a moment darling. Why don't you get a cup of tea?"

The cough that interrupted him was decidedly male, and Gregory looked up from his desk in surprise. "Your 'darling' is out on the terrace." Ethan replied with an amused grin. "My darling and I are going for a walk down to the Deep, do you need anything before we go?"

Gregory set down the phone, raising an eyebrow at Ethan's jest. "What would Olivia and I need from you?"

"Culinary advice?" Ethan offered, pointing to the wine stain on his shirt. "Whites are better for cooking, cause less of a stain too."

Gregory's stone face insisted the wine had a story behind it. "You should pass that on to my daughter."

Folding his arms made Ethan look the spitting image of his father. "Olivia mentioned an argument."

"A very public argument that's going to be extraordinarily frustrating to deal with." Shuffling the papers on his desk did nothing to alleviate his bitterness and would probably only serve to further infuriate him when Gregory realized how disorganized he had made it.

"It can wait." Phebe piped up, barely suppressing a giggle as she snuck in to ambush Ethan. "Whatever it is, the extraordinary beauty of the stars tonight is more important."

Watching her kiss Ethan's cheek in that impulsive way of youth reminded him of the way a certain young woman had made him smile like that once, many years ago.

"We're going to head out now." As he slipped his arm around Phebe's waist, she whispered something that made him laugh in surprise. "I highly recommend the terrace." He finished with a very deliberate wink.

They made their escape through the front door, leaving Gregory to muse on the motivations of the younger generation. Curiosity led him out on to the terrace, where the stars glimmered overhead. Failing to see anything special about the night sky in that moment, he followed the steps down to the pool. Olivia sat on the edge, dangling her feet in the water lazily. She'd taken the time to change, and the red silk dressing gown she wore was the one he'd brought back from their trip to Thailand.

The red made her stand out against the blue light radiating up from the pool like a night-blossoming orchid, The sound of his feet against the stone made her turn her head, and the dark curls of her hair tumbled over her shoulder.

Olivia's brilliant smile made up for the lackluster appearance of the stars. "I remember how excited you were when we moved into the house. How thrilling it was for you that we had the pool in addition to the ocean. You were going to teach our children how to swim, dive and do somersaults."

He sat on the edge next to her, starting to undo the laces of his shoes. "And you looked at me as if you were going to cry because you didn't know how to swim."

"I was terrified of the water." She giggled as he tucked his socks into his shoes and set them aside. "I'd only been in a pool once before and it was awful. I got the water in my eyes and I cried." Snuggling into his side, she rested her chin on his shoulder. "But you promised you could teach me to swim without once making me cry. And you did."

"Too bad I couldn't extend that promise to the other parts of your life." The silk slid easily across her knee when as he touched her thigh. "You've cried too much over me Liv."

Olivia's hand made its home over his heart. "I wouldn't trade it for the world."

"You wouldn't want to take away all the times I hurt you if you could?" Capturing her hand, Gregory noticed that she had left her engagement ring upstairs.

"I don't know if i could selectively change my life like that." Her foot broke the smooth surface of the water. "I think taking away the fights, the yelling and the times I cried myself to sleep, would take away the times you kissed me in the morning and made me forget all about the night before. Your lips and your smile and the way you look at me when you..."

She trailed off, pulling her hand back and dropping it in her lap.

"When I what?" He asked curiously, wondering what she was going to add. Gregory's interest grew when she stood up, allowing him a view of her calves and ankles.

Olivia dodged the question, untying the knot in her belt. "I think I'm going to go for a swim. Care to join me?"

The offer was tempting in more ways then he wanted to admit and Gregory was certain she knew. "When I what Liv?"

The red silk flowed off her shoulders like the ocean over a stone. It pooled at her feet, allowing him a view of her nude body in the soft light from the pool. "That look." She gestured him up to his feet, using his tie to guide him. "The look you get in your eyes when you want me."

"The look you have right now." Olivia purred as his expression became one she preferred to the bitterness he'd been carrying since dinner.

Gregory laughed, feeling a new lightness in his chest. He dropped his suit jacket to the terrace next to her robe, the night air had suddenly gotten a good deal warmer. "Don't you feel a little exposed?"

She ran her eyes over her own body briefly, before grinning suggestively at him as she reached for the buttons of his shirt. "I do have the oddest feeling I forgot something."

Working in unison, they freed him from his shirt and added it to the growing pile on the stone. He closed his hands over the unbelievably soft skin of her hips, pulling her closer. "It can't be important, you look-" Without anything to inhibit his progress, Gregory's hand moved up to her breast, relishing the skin he traversed on his way. "Incredible."

"Not pregnant?" His lips burned into the sweet spot at the base of her neck, and Olivia's words were nearly lost in her sigh of anticipation.

As her fingers worked nimbly on his belt buckle, Gregory studied the curves of her fantastically nude body. Her stomach was still unchanged, but that change would certainly come in time. He stepped out of his trousers without taking his eyes off of her. A curious eye on the beach might get more then they bargained for tonight, but all he wanted to think about was her.

And Olivia knew it. She was using the best method she knew to take his mind off Caitlin and he couldn't be more grateful as she followed the steps into the pool. Cupping her breasts in her hands, she looked like a goddess in the water.

Gregory circled to the deep end, diving in precisely and swimming with powerful strokes to break the surface near her. Clearing the water from his face, he kissed her before answering her question. "These are different." He explained with a nod of his head towards her cleavage.

Giggling softly, she wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist, weightless in the water. "I could have told you that, they are always the first thing to feel pregnant." Nibbling his bottom lip communicated her willingness to be done with talking.

"And you are." He whispered in quiet amazement. "I keep reminding myself that this is really happening."

Tracing a slow line from his chin to his ear, Olivia's whisper was low and sweet. "Oh, it is, trust me, it is very, very real all too often."

Gregory laughed at the sardonic edge to her voice. "I'll make it up to you, Liv." The heat of his breath against her neck was a promise.


	53. District Attorney

Gregory had been on the phone long enough for his food to get cold. She had press documents to work on, but even after Olivia finished, his place was still empty across from her. Rose packed his dinner away, taking her empty plate and leaving the coffee pot for Gregory.

The smell of the coffee was tempting. She knew she shouldn't, but Gregory wasn't here to lecture. Heaven only knew when he'd be off the phone, his call seemed to be the kind that could go all night. That thought made coffee all that more attractive, she hated to go to bed alone. The bitter liquid would keep her awake until he got off the phone.

Olivia poured her cup and took a tiny sip, feeling rather foolish sneaking into the living room with her forbidden coffee. The mail was still on the table, work had run late that afternoon. Neither of them had even looked it. Usually she left it for Gregory, he liked to manage the bills, but he was still on the phone. Perhaps there'd be another letter from Sean.

Most of it was professional correspondence. The amount of mail Gregory could receive in one day was proving to be quite astonishing. The careless stack she was making on the end of the coffee table fell over onto the floor, scattering the letters. Sighing in exasperation, she set down her coffee and got down on the floor to pick them up.

One letter missed her search and remained beneath the sofa. Thinking she had them all, Olivia pulled herself back up. Wrapping her hands around her coffee and wondering about her children, her gaze drifted out over the dark garden. Caitlin's outburst at the restaurant was still heavy on both of their minds. More so on her husband's, he'd been barely concentrating at the office.

Even Roger's playful gloating over breakfast that morning hadn't made him feel any better. Cole St. John had been identified from a partial fingerprint found where he had torn his glove. Now Ricardo seemed confident he could pin the rest of the threats on Cole St. John. Even Interpol was getting involved. She breathed in rich aroma of her coffee. Cole would be caught. He wouldn't have a chance to threaten the baby.

Maybe he was upset about Bette's article, but that didn't make any sense. The article was his idea. He wanted to smooth over any question about her pregnancy by encouraging Bette to use it prominently in her column. And Bette rarely needed much encouragment.

He was still deeply concerned about something, but it certainly wasn't public opinion. Gregory's reputation hadn't been better. Liberty was doing well. His firm was as smugly pleased with him as they usually were.

Perhaps he'd be ready to tell her tonight when they worked on their next letter to Sean. Thinking of her son shocked her out of her reverie. He didn't know. They were letting Bette tell the world in the paper tomorrow, but they hadn't told their own son he wasn't going to be the youngest anymore.

Olivia hurried to the phone, picking it up without remembering Gregory was still on the line.

"Yes, it'll be in the paper tomorrow." Gregory said with resignation in his voice. "I'm sure you see why I'm reluctant to accept your offer under these circumstances."

Respect for his privacy overrode her curiosity and she hung up the phone quickly. What offer? What was going to be in the paper? When had her life become a spy novel? She wondered as she retreated back to the sofa. Watching the closed door to his study wasn't constructive, but it did make her feel better.

Glancing down at her watch, Olivia realized what time it was in England. If she'd gotten through, Sean would nearly getting up and getting ready for class. It was almost six am in England. Her yawn reminded her it was ten in California and even the coffee she wasn't supposed to be drinking wasn't keeping her awake as well as she had hoped.

Returning to the dining room, she refilled her cup. Her left hand settled guiltily over her stomach, "I've already done the damage, might as well keep going. It'll give me something to think about when I wonder how you turned out so differently then I imagined."

"He can't hear you Liv." Gregory's hands were heavenly on the tension in her shoulders.

"Oh, why can't he?" She retorted gently, grabbing the chair for balance as his strong fingers dug into the tightness of her muscles.

"No ears yet." He sounded incredibly certain of his fact. Surprised, she tried to turn around, but he insisted on continuing his work on her shoulders. "You're tense today." Gregory's ministrations coaxed a sigh of agreement out of her. "He won't be able to hear you for a few months."

Her surprised noise made him chuckle. "I've been doing my homework. I always felt ignorant when you were pregnant with Caitlin and Sean. This time, I'm going to know everything." He kissed her cheek, took her coffee away from her and drained the cup. "And I know this is bad for you."

"You're in a good mood darling." Olivia smiled at him, more curious now about his phone call now that he was suddenly in high spirits.

"Where did my dinner get off too?" Gregory wondered as he surveyed the empty dining room table.

"Rose put it in the fridge." She passed on.

Following him into the kitchen, she watched as he pulled it out and placed it in the microwave. Turning back to her with a gleam of pride in his eye, Gregory rubbed her arm. "You'll never guess who just called."

"It must be important," she began. "You've been on the phone nearly three hours."

Rescuing his dinner from the microwave,Gregory dug into it quickly. "Yes, I'm sorry about that darling. It couldn't be helped."

Smiling in faint amusement as he devoured his dinner as if it was going to be taken away from him at any moment, Olivia folded her arms over her chest. "Well, who was it?"

Grinning around a bite of his potatoes, Gregory wiped his mouth on his napkin. "The DA."

"The DA?" Olivia repeated in surprise. "Darling, what would the district attorney want with you?"

"She's retiring, Laura Fitzgerald is retiring after eighteen years giving me hell in court." He finished off his chicken and left his empty plate in the sink.

The curl of her mouth showed her amusement. "No wonder you're in a good mood."

He lead her back out to the living room and sat her down on the sofa. "That's not all. You're not going to believe who she wants as her replacement."

"I'm afraid I'm not current on my who's who of California lawyers." Olivia retorted dryly, trying to find her answers in the smug smile on his face.

"I think you know this particular lawyer quite well."

She stopped him with a hand as he leaned in to kiss her. "You?"

Not one to be deterred easily, Gregory took her hand and kissed it instead. "Me, apparently I've caused equal trouble for her over the years. She seems quite impressed with me."

"Few women aren't." Olivia reminded him as she tried the idea out in her head. "District Attorney Gregory Richards?"

He leaned back into the sofa and shook his head. "I didn't accept."

Her expression faded into confusion. "Why wouldn't you accept?"

Caressing the furrow in her brow away with a gentle hand, he finally got to kiss her cheek. "Long hours at the office and even longer hours in court. We're going to be very, very busy with our own project soon enough." He kissed her forehead patronizingly. Thinking the subject was closed, he reached for the mail and started organizing it.

Reaching out, Olivia pushed the mail back down to the table, drawing his attention back to her. "I think you should accept darling."

Gregory raised an eyebrow, but waited for her to continue. "Why?"

"Because you should give something back." Was her simplistic answer, and only the seriousness of her blue eyes kept him from laughing.

"Give something back?" He repeated without letting emotion into his voice.

"Put the bad guys away." Olivia continued, surprising him with her enthusiasm. "You could keep men like Cole St. John off the streets for good."

Gregory's hands went immediately to her knees, instinctually reminding her that he would protect her at all costs. "Don't worry about Cole, don't even think about him."

"You know I'm right." Her smaller hands wrapped around his larger ones. "Don't you want to be able to look your son in the eye and tell him how you made his world a better place?"

"Isn't his world going to be better if his father is here when he comes home from school?" Gregory pulled his hands away as he stood to pace in front of the glass doors out to the terrace. "I think we learned the hard way that no amount of money can replace time."

Olivia rested her elbow on the back of the sofa and watched him. "Being District Attorney isn't about money. It's about doing the right thing."

"The right thing?" His laugh was bitter. "All of a sudden you care about morality?"

"I care about you." Olivia began softly as she traced the pattern on the pillow on her lap. "I care about Caitlin, Sean and the baby. I worry about how they see you. Your children idolize you. Remember how Sean used to follow you from room to room? How Caitlin used to play court with her dolls?"

Olivia reached for him and he stopped pacing and knelt across from her, letting her run her fingers through his hair. "Someday this baby is going to look at you and want to be just like you. Let him play District Attorney and save the world."

He wiped a tear from her eye, preventing it from running down her cheek. "I doubt it's that glamourous Liv."

"It probably won't be glamourous at all." She agreed with a smile.

Gregory squeezed her hand once before circling the sofa and settling down next to her again. "I'm told the right thing rarely is."

Turning his face towards her, Olivia filled his mouth with warmth, showing her gratitude as she kissed him. "You call her back. Now, before Mrs. Fitzgerald changes her mind."

Thoughtfully helping her up, Gregory noticed the dark smudges beneath her eyes. "I'll turn Roger on you if you drink anymore coffee."

Laughing softly, Olivia snapped her fingers at the lazy St. Bernard in the corner of the living room. "Don't worry, Belle won't let me have any of the nasty coffee."

The huge fluffy body brushed against his legs as Belle made her way to Olivia's feet. He returned the sweetness of her kiss from a moment ago, drawing a pleasant look of surprise. "You always see the best in me Liv."

Olivia fingered the lapels of his double-breasted jacket. "My weakness is that I don't think I can see anything but the best when I look at you." She looked into his eyes, letting him listen to her breathing in the silence. "Goodnight darling." A brush against his cheek with her hand, and the dog was following her up the stairs to bed.

His watch said it wasn't quite eleven. Laura Fitzgerald was a night owl, and if he called now he could catch her before the late news started.


	54. collide

The smell of hospital anesthetic was pervasive, sneaking into every pore of her body. Olivia could think of few things that made her as nervous as that smell and the terrible deadness of it. As if even the air itself was dead and stale. Someone was crying, but she couldn't remember why they were crying. She could hear footsteps somewhere, but they were walking away.

She didn't want them to go.

Her eyes opened slowly, the room was dark enough that it was only the sensation of air across her eyes insisted they were open at all. Sean was there, He was the one who was crying.

Who did the footsteps belong too? Where were they going?

"Why didn't you tell me?" That was Gregory's accusatory tone. The voice she hated because it made her feel worthless, and it was coming out of Sean's mouth. "Why didn't you tell me mom? Why did I have to find out when the hospital called?"

"I wanted to tell you honey." Her voice sounded hollow. "I wanted to tell you in person., I couldn't- I couldn't tell you over the phone."

"Maybe you shouldn't have waited so long." When he stood up she could barely see him, but something in his voice insisted something was terribly wrong. "It would have been nice to know about the baby before you lost it."

The sick feeling in her stomach exploded into her chest. "Lost the baby?"

"Caitlin said she warned you. Why didn't you listen?" The light was getting brighter, now she could see her son in silhouette. "Dad's inconsolable, won't talk to me, won't talk to Cate..."

Gregory's footsteps were the ones fading down the corridor her mind insisted dully, all thoughts paling to the consuming agony of knowing her baby was dead. Her baby was gone.

"No." Her feeble denial was a snowflake in an inferno. "No! It didn't happen. I don't remember it happening."

The light in the room was painfully bright now. All Sean had to do was point at the bed. The sheets between her legs were covered in blood. Her baby's blood. As the first scream of horror tore its way from her throat, Sean held her shoulders.

"No, not the baby. Not my baby. No-say it's not happening."

Sean was shaking her, sounding like Gregory again. "It's all right."

"My baby's dead..." The blood was running off the end of the bed like water and dripping on to the floor. "My baby can't be dead!"

"Liv-" No one but Gregory called her Liv.

As he sat down on the bed to take off his shoes, he made the mistake of glancing over at the clock on his nightstand. It was already half past midnight and the alarm was only going to allow him six hours of sleep before it insisted he get up and get ready for the day. Morning was a bleak thought as he ducked into the bathroom to brush his teeth. He could turn the alarm off, let them both sleep in and go into work whenever they got around to it. That was the luxury of being the CEO after all.

The art of sneaking into bed without waking his wife was something Gregory had perfected after years of practice. Moving slowly minimized the creaking of the bed and Olivia usually slept soundly enough not to notice him when he slipped his arm around her waist. He spared a moment to wonder if she knew he held her even when they were fighting. Even when they hated each other, she was still his.

His arm went all the way around her, letting him tuck his fingers into the space between her and the bed. He smiled to himself in the darkness, in a few months he'd have to change the way he held her and just a few months after that he'd have to share the bed. Deciding he'd have to enjoy the simplicity while he could, Gregory curled a little closer around her, fitting his knees in just behind hers.

He was nearly asleep when her nightmare started. Olivia often talked in her sleep, so he let his mind start drifting out of consciousness, at least until she started screaming. Tearing herself out of his arms with a jolt that nearly took her out of the bed, she tried desperately to get away from whatever subconscious horror was torturing her.

Instantly awake, Gregory caught her shoulders, keeping her from falling over the edge.

"Not my baby...No!"

Shaking her gently, he tried to shock her out of it. "It's all right."

Still trying to get away from him, she backed into the headboard, shaking her head. "My baby can't be dead."

"Liv-"

Still shaking, she inhaled sharply and woke up with a start. "Oh God."

"Hey, it's all right Liv. Just a bad dream." Even in the darkness, he could see the tears she was struggling against. "It's over now." Gregory coaxed her back under the sheets of the bed, holding her against his chest. "You should stop watching scary movies with Sean."

Olivia sniffed, trying to remember what he was referring too. When she didn't, he reminded her- "He wanted to watch Silence of the Lambs. I thought it would give him nightmares, but you agreed to watch it with him-" His left hand kept up a slow pattern on her back. "You had nightmares for a month."

She sighed as she remembered what he was getting at. "Sean was fine."

"Sean was fine." Gregory agreed with smirk. "You were a wreck."

She shuddered, drying her tears on the edge of the sheet. "I can't imagine anything more horrible then being stalked by a madman in the dark, when he can see you and you can't see him..."

"All right-" He hushed her quickly. "Don't talk about that. You'll have more nightmares."

Olivia toyed with the top button on his pajamas, fidgeting with it. "We have to tell him."

He studied the lights from the boats on the ocean, refracting through the window weakly. "We will."

She pulled away, he obviously didn't understand. "We can't let him hear it from someone else. What if Caitlin tells him?"

Gregory propped himself up on both elbows, sighing in residual annoyance. "Caitlin's too self-centered lately to even think about telling him."

"For godsake Gregory, he's our son and he deserves to know." Olivia reached over him for the phone. "We should call him right now."

"Liv-" He caught her hand, keeping her away from the phone. "It's already 10 am there, Sean's in class. Sleep now, we can talk to him tomorrow."

Olivia sighed heavily, realizing how tired she was. "What are we going to say?"

"The truth." Gregory offered simply, lying back down on the pillows. "That you're pregnant and we're excited to have the baby."

"That's the partial truth." Returning to his arms, eased the last of the horror of her nightmare away.

"I don't think he wants to know the details Liv." He explained dryly before addressing her concerns. "The fertility drugs can stay between us. I don't know if he'll understand why you would want to make yourself that sick to try and have a baby."

"But we'll call him tomorrow." She finished sleepily. "I want him to find out from us."

"He'll find out from us Liv. I'll make sure of it." That let her shut her eyes. "Just go to sleep."

Work kept her mind busy and Gregory took advantage of that distraction. Less then an hour after arriving at work, he had a flight to London for that afternoon. Conveniently, Lillian told him Sean's biology class was touring the Royal Virology Institute in London, so they wouldn't have to take the extra flight to Manchester. Rose was packing what he requested of their clothes and their bags would meet them at the airport.

The timeframe was too short to get the private plane, and they would have to fly commercially, which he disliked, but would be worth it for Olivia's peace of mind. He had just finished booking the room at the Savoy and the limousine from the airport from the hotel when it occurred to him that he should check with Roger and make sure flying wasn't on Olivia's list of things to avoid before he surprised her.

South Bay patched him through to Roger who picked up with his usual carefree attitude. "Dr. Baxter, how can I help you?"

"Ever thought about feigning a professional attitude?" Gregory remarked sarcastically as Roger started to chuckle.

"At times, but it just makes me feel stuffy, like an old raincoat. What do you need from me?"

Gregory cut to the chase. "I want to fly Olivia to London."

"Then you need to contact the airport." Roger suggested dryly.

He ignored the jibe. "Is she healthy enough to fly?"

"Ahhh..." Roger paused and Gregory could hear the shuffling of papers. "Her tests from Monday say most likely so."

"Most likely?" Gregory repeated firmly. "What's the 'most' about?"

"Has she fainted or been dizzy since your car accident?" Roger ran down his mental checklist, reasonably pleased with Olivia's chart.

"No-" Gregory stopped and corrected himself. "Except for last Wednesday. She got dizzy at work."

"What did you do?"

"Put her to bed."

Roger checked off the first item. "Any nausea or vomiting?"

"She's been a little nauseated, but no vomiting."

"Good." Roger grinned as he got to ask his last question. "When's the last time you made love?"

The perturbed sound in the back of Gregory's throat was everything he hoped it would be. "What kind of medical question is that?"

Roger chuckled, enjoying Gregory's discomfort immensely. "Just answer the dn question Richards."

"Two nights ago-" Gregory sighed in frustration. "In the pool if you must know."

Still laughing, Roger gave his consent. "She can fly to London, just watch for her being overtired."

"That's it?" Gregory retorted in surprise. "We made love so she can fly?"

"If she was too sick to fly, she'd be too sick to make love, no matter how charming you are." Roger explained with his best patronizing tone. "Have a lovely time and say hi to that prodigal boy of yours. At least he seems to have avoided your genetics."

Gregory actually managed a smile as he hung up the phone. Olivia was going to be so happy to see Sean. They hadn't been planning on visiting him until next month.

Olivia cut off Casey mid-sentence as Gregory came into her office. "Darling, did you call Sean?"

Gregory kept his face stern, not wanting to give away her surprise. "I did."

"Why did you call him without me?" Olivia left her desk and crossed to him to grab his arm. "Did you tell him? Gregory, why didn't you wait for me?"

"I didn't tell him." He assured her calmly, catching the amused look on Casey's face. Casey had overhead him making reservations just a few minutes ago. "We'll tell him together."

"Then let's call him now." Olivia grabbed the phone from her desk, frustrated with his seeming lack of caring.

"We'll tell him first thing tomorrow morning-"

"Tomorrow morning!" She nearly dropped the phone in surprise.

"When we see him." Gregory concluded, letting his smile burst onto his face. "In London."

Olivia squealed in girlish delight and threw her arms around his neck. "Oh darling...we're going to London?"

"We leave today at noon. It's a twelve hour flight and we have to transfer in Phoenix-"

"I don't care how it takes." Olivia kiss his cheek and turned to smile at Casey. "We get to see Sean."

"We'll be able to meet Sean for breakfast in London on Saturday." Gregory promised her, feeling the warmth of her enthusiasm like sunlight.

His parents had their backs to the door and neither of them saw him meet with the hostess. Sean assured her he was meeting them and she handed him a menu and let him seat himself. He snuck up behind his mother's chair. His father saw him, but hid his smile behind his coffee. 

Sean threw his arms around his mother's shoulders and she jumped, nearly knocking over her chair in her hurry to hug him. "Hey mom. Fancy meeting you here."

"Sean!" She released him to look him over quickly before hugging him again. "Oh honey, you look wonderful." His eyes had the spark of intelligence that had been so attractive in his father as a young man. A few weeks on his own was letting him find himself in a way he couldn't in the shadow of his parents.

Gregory pointed to the chair next to Olivia's. "Let him sit down dear. We got you some coffee, since you're a college student now you're probably addicted to it."

Sean extracted himself from his mother's embrace and reached for the silver coffee cup as he sat down. "Part of the curriculum, introduction to the habits of doctors 111."

"Which fits excellently with Sarcasm and Wit 112 doesn't it?" His father retorted dryly and Sean laughed easily. The playful side of his father was one he saw rarely and he enjoyed it.

"All part of the long, winding road to medical school." Sean answered as he stirred the sugar into his coffee with a silver sthingy. The hotel restaurant was elegant. If he had not been wearing his best shirt and tie in preparation for his field trip, he would have been underdressed.

"We're just so proud of you." Olivia gushed as she patted his shoulder. "Everything you wrote us in your letters sounds so amazing. Where are you going today again?"

"The Royal Virology lab." Sean reminded her with an excited smile. "They're going to show us the latest in viral research, we're even going to look some bacteria and protista with their electron microscope. It's really going to be amazing."

"I remember when your plastic shovel and bucket were amazing." Gregory leaned back to make room as the waitress set breakfast down in front of him. "Now it's electron microscopes."

"Oh yeah." Sean dropped his napkin into his lap and reached for the jam for his toast. "You can look at things you'd never be able to see otherwise." He held up his knife and pointed to the thin edge. "Under an electron microscope even the edge of my knife would look like Mount Everest." He used his knife to cut into his french toast and grinned up at his parents.

"But you'll get to see everything, my professor said it would be all right if you joined us on our trip, and I'd love for you to come."

"The viral research lab?" His mother echoed, sounded slightly nervous.

Gregory and Olivia shared a look. Covering her hand with his, Gregory turned back at his son and returned his smile. "I'd love to Sean, but I don't think your mother can."

Sean dropped his fork to his plate. "What's wrong with mom?"

"Nothing sweetheart. Nothing's 'wrong'." Olivia assured him quickly, guilt rising as the concern filled his face. "Don't worry."

Gregory's hand was warm and comforting over her own. "She just shouldn't be going in any viral research laboratories for awhile."

The tension over the table was palpable. Licking her lips was useless because her mouth was suddenly dry. Olivia swallowed, but Gregory took the plunge. "Your mother and I are having a baby."

"Oh." Sean's quiet new confidence faded, leaving him feeling about three years old. Trying to think objectively, the newly medical part of his mind insisted that Olivia's pregnancy was a logical answer to her mysterious illness. "I didn't know you were trying. Were you trying?"

His mother studied her fingers interlaced with Gregory's. The emotion in her face was unreadable, she just seemed to be upset. Something flickered across his father's face that aroused Sean's curiosity, but it disappeared behind Gregory's control. "No Sean, it was a surprise to both of us."

The hand on her knee beneath the table insisted that she go along with her husband. The fertility drugs Alex had helped her with and Roger's mysterious insight could remain unsaid in the back of her mind. Olivia managed a weak smile for her son's benefit. "We would have told you as soon as we found out, but with everything going on-"

"You mean Cole St. John." Sean corrected as he interrupted his mother. "You think Cole might hurt the baby."

The sudden twitch of Gregory's jaw gave away that it was a real concern even as his mother smiled in relief.

"Cole hasn't done anything for awhile now." His mother began hopefully, slipping her hand out from under Gregory's in order to return to her breakfast. "Maybe he's realized no one's as stubborn as your father."

His father touched her cheek, gently returning her smile.

Sean's memory brought back the image of his father stirring some white powder into his mother's cup on that night in the kitchen. That was the end of June, right before his grandfather died. 

"How far?" He asked softly, wondering how he should phrase it. "I mean, god, I never thought I'd have to ask you guys about this- I guess I thought " Sean laughed a little, and he watched the tension disappear from his mother's face. She must have been worried about how he was going to handle it. "When's the baby due? An I getting a brother or a sister?"

Olivia caught his hand, her relief naked in her eyes. "You aren't angry with us?"

Sean squeezed her fingers before taking his hand back to his silverware and breakfast. "No, no, not at all. I'm kinda relieved actually. It's much better to know you're not sick."

"I wouldn't go that far son." Gregory's sarcasm spoke of untold suffering, but the lightness in his eyes promised it was all right. "She still falls asleep when we write you back."

"It's not really fair to gang up you two." Olivia pointed out as grateful laughter bubbled up in the back of her throat. Seeing her men find common ground warmed her heart, even if that new ground was at her expense. "But, to answer your questions darling, we don't know the sex of the baby and we don't intend to ask."

"Your mother thinks it's a boy." Gregory offered from behind the rim of his coffee cup.

Olivia ignored his interruption. "Roger says I'm nearly twelve weeks, so you'll have a sibling in March."

"March huh?" Sean finished the last of his french toast and hid his whirling mind with a smile. Twelve weeks ago was the last week of June. The baby might have been a surprise to his mother, but he was certain his father hadn't been surprised. "Do you think you could aim for spring break? It would be convenient if I didn't have to miss too much of spring semester."

Swirling his coffee cup, Gregory shared a wicked smirk with his son. "If he's anything like you and your sister, he'll be born whenever it would cause the most disruption."

"Really?" He raised his eyebrows in surprise. The stories of the past were told rarely and he was deeply interested in hearing about the old days before the bad years.

"I was making my final arguments in the biggest case I'd had since we got married when your mother went into labor with Caitlin. They passed word to me in a note, and I couldn't get out of there fast enough." His parents shared a glance and his mother's eyes softened with adoration. "I nearly forgot everything I was going to say. If I hadn't written out my closing statement the night before I probably would have thrown the trial."

"And your father rushed over to the hospital-"

"Without even staying to hear the verdict-"

"He was so worried he'd miss everything-"

"I had no way of know it was going to take-"

"Twenty-seven hours!" They finished in unison, laughing and holding hands sweetly.

"She was worth it." Olivia added gently, hoping Gregory's resentment was fading towards his daughter. "Caitlin was worth every minute of it."

Sean decided to wait until he had his father alone to ask what Caitlin had done that made him so visibly angry. "What about me?"

The laughter faded from his mother's eyes, and the connection of their hands grew more dependent. "You gave us a bit of a scare." Gregory admitted as he remembered the first time he'd seen the face of his son. How tiny he'd been, how translucent his skin was and how fragile his little fingers had been. "Your birthday's next week-"

"October ninth." Olivia inserted gently as she reached brushed her eyes in annoyance. "You'll be eighteen," she finished, smiling weakly.

"Your birthday was supposed to be in November." His father explained as he watched Olivia's eyes tear up. "We were completely unprepared for you. I was trying to get everything done so I could be home with your mother."

"Your sister was nearly three and she was into everything." Olivia explained with a shake of her head. "It was hard enough to keep her out of the kitchen cabinets, let alone get your nursery ready." Her smile faded and her eyes told him something had gone wrong. "But we ended up with more then enough time. They wouldn't let us take you home until you were nearly six weeks old. Bringing you back from the hospital ended up being our anniversary present."

Even his father sounded saddened by the memory. "Your mother went into labor and everything just happened so quickly. We thought it was false labor and any moment they'd be telling us we could go home, but one minute I was waiting to see her and the next they were taking you away to intensive care."

"They wouldn't even let me hold you." Sean wondered if the tears escaping his mother's face were part of the way women were supposed to get more emotional when they were pregnant. "I only saw you for a second, you were so tiny and so still-"

Gregory produced one of his handkerchiefs for her tears, letting her put her napkin back on the table as he laid his arm over her shoulders. "She made me run back and forth from her room to the ICU all night telling her that you were still all right. And the moment the doctors let her get up, we went to see you."

"I'm sorry." Sean replied dumbly. "I didn't know-"

Olivia cut him off firmly with a wave of her hand. "It was not your fault. There were complications. problems our doctors didn't even know about."

His father's memory was clearer. "Your placenta failed, I remember the doctor explaining why it happened, trying to tell me what it meant, but frankly I wasn't listening," Gregory kissed her temple, remembering how much pain she'd been in and how terrible the thought that he had caused that agony. "All I heard was that if your mother had not gone into labor when she did, you would have been stillborn."

"When I look at you now I can't imagine not having you for my son."

"I've always been told the view from here is exquisite. London is one of the most beautiful cities in the world after all, and when you stand up here, you can see the entire panorama of the city laid out before you. From the Golden Gallery of St. Paul's Cathedral, you can see everything."

When the voice started behind her, Olivia thought it was addressing someone else. The wind was still warm, but carried the dry smell of autumn leaves and enough of a hint of a chill to remind her that winter was coming to London. Her arms rested on the sun-warmed stone of the railing surrounding the gallery roof as she watched the boats move lazily up the Thames below.

The voice finished in a whisper behind her ear that sent chills down her spine. "If I had known you'd be up here, I wouldn't have wasted my life on the ground. I would have flown up here to find you Olivia."

A hand on her shoulder flipped her around, running passionately up the back of her neck to pull her head around to meet his eyes. "I've been dead for twenty years and only now come back to life."

Staring hungrily into his eyes, he leaned in to kiss her, but she put up her hand, blocking his lips. 

"It's nice to see you."

"Nice?" He laughed as he slid his foot around the outside of her shoe. "The love of my life falls out of the sky into my arms once more and you call it nice? Why didn't you tell me you'd left him?" His lips stopped a breath away from her own when she caught his chin.

"Left him?" One of his hands caught the back of her hip, insinuating himself around her like a python.

"He never really appreciated you, not like I could." His eyes bored into her, hungry for half-remembered passion of years past.

"You didn't want me." Olivia reminded him coyly as she broke his grip, putting a space between them. "We had our chance, but you didn't want me. You moved on and I found someone who did."

"Does he still want you?" He pressed, taking a step towards her as she backed away. "I see the tiny lines around your eyes Olivia Blake, I see the strain of twenty years. I know your life with Gregory-" The name caught in his throat. "Wasn't what you expected." Lifting her hand, he kissed it like a man seeking absolution.

"It may have taken twenty years Olivia, but I know what I've lost." His knee brushed her thigh as he closed the distance between them. "And I thank the angels that brought you here for giving it back-"

He caught her arms, turning her back into the stone railing and breathing against her cheek as he moved achingly slowly towards her lips.

Cole stroked Caitlin's golden head and smiled reassuringly. "You don't have to do this."

Kissing his cheek, she nodded as she pulled on her wetsuit. "I want to do this."

"Okay." Cole moved her hair aside to do up the zipper of her wetsuit. "Casey and Heather will be getting our gear ready. When we put on the tanks, take the one with the red stripe around the bottom. That one's contaminated."

She nodded again, reiterating his plan. "As soon as we go under, I'll have about five minutes before I pass out. You'll get me to the surface, and back to the hospital. My parents will come running home from England and wait at my bedside-"

"Helpless and utterly distracted." Cole finished with his own suit and grabbed his mask and fins from the floor of the cabin of the Oceanographic institute boat. "I'll do the rest, by the time you wake up from your 'nap'. Your father will be begging me to take the jewels away."

"And we'll run away together." Caitlin stopped in the doorway, pushing him back into the cabin as she kissed him forcefully. "Just you and me and the whole world waiting for us."

Cole sank his fingers into the soft flesh of her hips, thinking it was shame that he didn't have enough time to strip her out of the neoprene and make love to her. Soon he wouldn't need her anymore and she'd be gone. She didn't need to know the plan had changed. She didn't need to know that jewels were a side benefit. This was personal. Gregory had foiled his plans and he was going to discover how foolish that was. He had been forced to involve his father sooner then they expected. Not that he really minded, Gregory's stubbornness had given him the precious chance to enjoy what brought him the most pleasure.

Pain.

"AJ..." She stiffened under his grasp, her body becoming as stone as the cathedral. "Gregory's with me. He's brought me to London, we're visiting our son, Sean."

AJ's hands dropped to his sides. He seemed stunned as he released her, but he covered it with a smile that oozed charm. "Forgive me. I just got carried away." Embracing her with friendly familiarity, he laughed happily. "I hope you'll forgive me for being so forward with you. I was just so blown away by seeing you again. You're more beautiful then my most magical memories. You're positively glowing."

Her smile was secretive. "Thank you. It's nice to see you too. Though, I have to admit, I thought I'd be seeing you sooner or later."

"Oh?" AJ leaned back on the railing, smiling that old roguish smile. "To what would I owe that honor?"

Olivia tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear. "Your son is dating my daughter."

"If your daughter is half as stunning as you are, Julian's a lucky man." 

He was as handsome as she remembered and just as treacherous. The thought that she might have married him if he hadn't moved onto Elaine, flashed through her mind for a moment. Olivia put her hands in the pockets of her long black blazer and reminded herself that Gregory's child slept beneath her skin.

"Caitlin seems very happy with him." A glance around told her they were alone on the ledge around the steeple. "We've been wishing that she was as happy with us lately."

"Maybe she's just rebelling, getting ready to leave the nest." AJ hypothesized as let his gaze roam her body. Though the thought of her carrying Gregory's spawn made his gorge rise, he had to admit to himself that it gave her a lovely glow. Having children had done wonders for her cleavage and gone was the sweet little Olivia Blake he had taken to his bed. The woman before him now was elegant, curvy instead of dainty, and he had never wanted her more.

"The nest may not be as safe as secure as it was." She didn't elaborate, AJ didn't need to know her problems. Talking about Cole only seemed to bring him more power. "And you may be right, she's certainly coming into her own. She has her father's independence."

AJ was watching her, she could feel his eyes on her body and it made her oddly uncomfortable. Olivia looked at her watch, feigning surprise at the time. "I need to head back, Gregory's going to be waiting for me at the hotel."

"As quickly as she came, the angel leaves me." He quipped with exaggerated sorrow. "L'adieu mon amour, la séparation est tant de douleur douce."

Surprised at his forward behavior, Olivia reminded him who she belonged to. "Je suis seulement votre amour dans vos rêves."

"I suppose I deserved that." AJ leaned in precariously close to touching her and whispered, "With you in my dreams, I'd never want to wake again."

Laughing softly, she slipped away without another goodbye. The music of it echoed in the winding stairs back to the ground floor. AJ waited just long enough for her to be out of earshot before he opened his cellular phone. The cross Atlantic connection took a few moments, but Cole picked up after the first ring.

"Is everything on schedule?"

"Of course. Caitlin and I are going diving with the empty-headed lout Gregory uses as a bodyguard and his girlfriend. Caitlin's 'accident' is prepared, she trusts me completely."

"And the solution to the little problem with my dear Olivia?"

"I was able to procure the dose you suggested from the hospital pharmacy."

AJ felt the warmth of anticipation run up his back. "I'll leave it to you. Remember- do it somewhere in public, near the hospital. I don't want her damaged anymore then is absolutely necessary."

"I think that can be arranged."

AJ snapped his cell phone shut and drummed the fingers of his free hand on the railing. All of London was looking up at him, but his thoughts were only of his prize, somewhere on the streets below. "I promise my dear, I'll free you from him and make you mine. Soon, very soon."

"He's going to make an excellent physician if he continues the way he's headed. Answered all of the questions the moment his professor asked them-" Gregory called from the bed as he waited for her to finish with her nightly ritual. "You would have been so proud of him."

"I am proud of him." Olivia called back as she dropped her hairbrush back into her travel bag. "I hope we get to meet his girlfriend over Christmas holidays. What was her name again?"

"Kate." Gregory answered as he double checked their flight home for tomorrow. "We have some time in the morning before we need to go to the airport, what would you like to do with it? Shopping?"

Hanging up the washcloth as she finished with it, Olivia shut off the bathroom light as she returned to bed. "What do I need darling?"

Gregory caught her waist and pulled her down beside him on the bed. "Maternity clothes come to mind. I doubt you still have what you wore while you were carrying Sean."

She sank into the pillows of the bed and wrapped his hand in her fingers as it rested on her stomach. "Nope, all of that is gone. I'll be completely starting over."

Nibbling his way down her neck, Gregory paused. "Starting over was the best idea we ever had Liv."

Sighing in agreement, she slid the strap of her nightgown down off her shoulder, leaving him a clear path to continue his journey. Olivia toyed with the back of his neck, lazily running her fingers through his hair as he roamed her chest with his mouth. "I had an odd encounter today."

"Whom did you encounter?" Gregory rose from her collarbones to explore the line of her jaw.

All thoughts of a serious conversation were being chased from her mind by the intoxicating touch of his lips. Pulling his head over within reach, she devoured his teasing mouth. "I'm lucky I was alone, you would have gotten into a fight with him."

"On the spot?" His fingers danced along her collarbone. "That narrows it down a bit."

Smiling up at him with her eyes half-closed, Olivia bobbed her head slightly. "You should be able to guess."

"Del's been dead for months, so that eliminates him." He returned to her neck, smelling the hint of lilac perfume. Toying with the naked skin of her ear, Gregory ran through the short list of people he would have been at arms with on sight. "Oh It wasn't?" Chuckling with amusement, he rolled back to his pillow.

She moved to her side, lowering her head to his chest as his arm slipped around her waist. His fingers spread out protectively over her stomach. "It was."

"The infamous Armando Deschanel Jr." 

Olivia could feel his laughter in the rise and fall of his chest. "He thought I was here alone."

"Ah." Gregory moved his fingers against her side in a slow pattern. "You'd finally escaped my clutches and he could sweep you away."

Olivia slyly undid the top button of his shirt. "I told you that you would have gotten into a fight with him."

Sitting up, he found the hem of her nightgown and started his way up her leg. "It would have been worth it."

"If you tickle me darling, you're a dead man." Closing her eyes and sighing in pleasure, Olivia trusted him.

Still chuckling softly, he kissed her ankle. "What else did he say?"

"He flirted with me." She admitted, gasping in surprise as he skipped her calf to kiss the soft skin of her inner thigh just above her knee.

"Like this?" Gregory asked wickedly, as he rolled her legs up and slid her nightgown down further.

She balanced her foot on his shoulder, rubbing his chin gently with the back of it. "Not like this."

He roamed the inside of her legs, crawling up between them and stopping just over her chest. "What else did he say?" The chocolate silk of her nightgown crept up her hip.

Olivia moaned, talking seemed like a waste of time at this point, but he was waiting patiently for her to answer the question. "We talked about Caitlin and Julian." His touch left a line of fire on her skin as Gregory pulled the silk up over her hip.

Her foot rubbed across his leg. "And that was all?"

Arching her back into him, Olivia reached for his shoulders and pulled him up to her level. "I told him I was meeting you." She licked the tip of his nose coyly. "He wished I was his." The second and third buttons of his shirt popped open beneath her fingers. "I told him only in his dreams."

Lifting her hips from the bed, Olivia let him pull the nightgown up over her hips. Gregory whispered into her mouth. "I don't know if I want to share you with AJ, even if it's just in his dreams."

Her tongue was warm and soft against his lips as she finished the last of the buttons and freed his chest. Olivia's nightgown moved higher, exposing her stomach to the wonder of his touch. Her voice was husky as she responded in his ear. "I chose you darling. My children are yours, my life is with you."

AJ was gone from her mind. Encouraged by the urgency of her moan, Gregory pinned her beneath him. His hands found their way under the silk to her breasts and she started giggling. "On top of the blankets?"

Rolling off her, he removed his pajama bottoms and dropped them on the floor. Without a word he slid between the sheets and propped his head up on one elbow. Under his appreciative gaze, Olivia tried to take her time in pulling her nightgown off. His smile was too maddening, she knew what he wanted to do to her and she couldn't make herself wait any longer then she had too.

The nightgown arced gracefully through the air to land somewhere on the floor of the hotel room, where it was forgotten. Gregory lifted the blankets and the cool linen was a sharp contrast to the heat radiating from his body. Olivia moved into the heat, letting her skin discover the feeling of his naked body. Fingertips blazed a line up her arm, skipping her shoulder and going straight to the back of her head. Caught in her hair, Gregory's hand drew her in. "I don't deserve you."

Olivia hushed him and reminded him with her tongue what his mouth was better used for. His other hand found the valley of her spine on her lower back and pulled her closer. Maneuvering to take the upper hand, she caught her breath long enough to retort. "It doesn't matter if you deserve me. I wanted you-"

"Liv-" Interrupting him again, she consumed him. Breathing in the scent of his skin, tasting his sweat on her lips and feeling nothing but the linen against her back and the hard flesh of his body. He was hers because she wanted him, and as she looked into his deep brown eyes, Olivia realized he knew. His hands on her back, his chest beneath her and the upward thrust of his hips as he buried himself inside of her; all the parts of him knew who they belonged too.

He didn't have to be a lawyer. He didn't have to be brilliant or know the closing price of the stock exchange. He didn't need to control the situation, manipulate the players or rig the game. There was no Gregory Richards, future district attorney of Sunset Beach. He didn't exist.

Instead of himself, he had the space between the gasp inward and the desperate release from tortured lungs. The pause between his heartbeats when he could feel her heart through her chest was his world. Her hair tumbled down to caress his neck, curling and damp with perspiration. The skin of his chest stung as her fingers dug into it. He lived in the spill of her breast over his fingers and died when she pulled away from his reach.

Olivia's head flew back, her body trembling on the edge of satisfaction. Her voice caught in her throat, escaping in a primal scream.

"Oh god, Gregory..."

And his identity was reborn. He was husband because she loved him, lover because she wanted him, but father because he had lied to her. She kissed his neck, gasping as her breath returned. "I only want you."

She would forgive him. Gregory settled her in his arms. "You've got me Liv."

She had to forgive him.


	55. set up

The ringing telephone was straight out of hell. It shattered the blissful quiet of his dreams, demanding his attention. Gregory lifted his arm from the nude shoulders of his sleeping wife and grabbed the receiver before it woke her. He held the phone to the side of the his head away from her.

"Hello?"

The line had the distant sound of an overseas connection. "Gregory, I'm sorry I woke you." Roger's voice was too serious.

"What happened?" Gregory's whisper wasn't as worried as he expected. The worst case scenario was impossible, Olivia was safe curled against his side.

"Caitlin's been hospitalized." Roger explained with a heavy sigh of resignation. "She's all right. She went diving with Casey, something went wrong-"

Before his conscious mind even knew what he was doing, Gregory was removing himself from her arms and searching the dark floor for his boxer shorts. Olivia murmured in her sleep, snuggling into her pillows. He straightened the sheet over her shoulder. There was no reason for her to be awake yet.

He changed their airline reservations as he got dressed. Switching the phone from one ear to the other, he waited on hold as he packed his suitcase. Gregory picked on outfit from her suitcase, black trousers and a dark purple sweater set. Something comfortable for the fourteen hour plane trip home to California. The classical music on the phone faded into an unfailingly polite attendant with a strong British accent who altered their reservations as he finished packing her clothes.

They had an hour to get to the airport, and the cab would meet them downstairs in half of that. Gregory felt his guilt rise as he reached for her shoulder, "Olivia..."

Casey's pacing figure was immediately recognizable in front of South Bay General. The sling had been off his arm for a week, and he was thrilled to have his arm back. He had clean clothes, thanks to Heather's thoughtfulness. He'd taken a shower in the doctor's lounge, but without any sleep, it seemed like slapping a new coat on paint on a rotting house. As the cab stopped he hurried to it, meeting Gregory as he opened the car door. The older man looked rumpled, his polo shirt and khakis wrinkled from the long plane ride. His hair was mussed, and his eyes had the glazed look of too little sleep.

"I am so sorry." Casey began nervously.

Olivia stood up slowly, depending on Gregory's hand as she rose from the cab. Gregory released her as he paid the taxi driver. Olivia's fingers shook slightly as she touched the young man's shoulder. "Roger said it was an accident."

Casey shook his head, taking in the dark smudges beneath her eyes with deep concern. "I invited her and Julian diving with Heather and I. I picked the kelp forest-"

"You brought her home." Olivia interrupted softly, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. "Looks like you're playing the white knight again."

Casey caught her hand as she removed it from his shoulder. He took her arm, steadying her as he realized how much fragility her exhaustion gave her. Just Friday she'd been glowing with excitement about the trip to London.

The gentleness in Gregory's eyes as he returned to her side spoke volumes about guilt he had for subjecting her to the arduous trip. Olivia's tiny smile took too much effort to comfort either of them "You should go on ahead and talk to Roger. Casey can walk me up."

"Sure." Casey offered as she patted his arm gratefully. "She's on the third floor, room 318."

Gregory touched her face, wishing he could bring some color back to it. "Only if you're certain you'll be all right."

"I'm fine." She started weakly, trying to concentrate on the warm feeling of the morning sunshine. "Really darling, I think just not flying or driving for awhile is all I need."

"I'm sorry about all this sweetheart." His thumb ran the curve of her cheek. "I was looking forward to taking you shopping."

"Get on with you. Go check on our daughter." She shooed him off, calling after him as he entered the hospital. "You'll just have to take me shopping here."

Casey watched the forced smile drain out of her face as Gregory disappeared behind the doors of the hospital. "How was your flight?"

Her free hand rubbed at the crick in her neck. "Endless. Fourteen hours to LA, with something nasty going on over the midwest."

"Something nasty?" He started towards the hospital doors.

Casey's arm was absolutely solid, but her lingering nausea refused to vanish. "Gregory wanted me to sleep, but we ran into some turbulence, and that ruined that idea."

Recognizing the hint of green in her face sympathetically, Casey nodded knowingly. "My dad used to get airsick. My mom said she should have realized they were doomed when they got married. No husband of hers could want to stay in the same place as much as he did."

"I miss your mother." Olivia admitted as she leaned back against the wall of the elevator "She always had the best smile." Casey felt her look right through him into the past. Some memory she didn't share with him brought peace to her expression. "But having you around makes me feel like I've still got her."

"Is this going to turn into a 'your mother' story?" He teased as the elevator stopped on the third floor. "I'm thinking of starting a book of them. Everyone seems to have one."

"Everyone loved Alex." Olivia left the safety of the back wall of the elevator slowly, taking care not to move faster then her mind could keep up with. "Talking about her makes it seem like she's still with us."

Unaccustomed to his temporary role as caretaker Casey got a few steps ahead of her before he realized she was still next to the elevator. One of her hands was on the wall and the other held her head, as if that could steady it.

Rushing back to her side, Casey gave her his hand instead of the wall. "You all right?"

Olivia's weak smile did little to reassure him. "Must be tired." Pausing to collect herself, she released a little of her death grip on his hand. "I'll be fine."

"I can get Dr. Baxter-" He knew her reply before she said it. Olivia had a touch of Alex's stubborn refusal to ask for help. Casey couldn't help liking that about her.

"Oh no. I'm fine." She insisted with surprising strength in her voice. "Just walk a little slower for me."

"Caitlin's room is right here anyway." Three eighteen was on the right, and it only took a moment to lead Olivia to the chair by the bed. With the breathing mask gone, Caitlin looked like she had just happened to fall asleep there. Olivia reached for her daughter's hand, fighting the tears out of her eyes. Caitlin was fine. Gregory had promised her that.

"Mr. Richards must be talking to Dr. Baxter. I'll go find them, get the doctor to explain to you everything that's happened." She looked better sitting down, there was a trace more color in her face.

Olivia knew the concerned look the was so evident on his face. He was a sweet young man, one that would make an excellent husband someday. "I'm all right Casey. I promise to stay in this spot until you come back with my husband and the good doctor."

Casey reached for the knob of the door, but returned his hand to his side as his concern got the better of him again. "Does your husband know you aren't feeling well?"

She lowered her gaze to the floor for a moment, and gestured him closer, as if she planned on sharing a secret with him. "My husband had to spend the last half of our plane ride back, holding my head in his lap and trying to convince me I was not going to be throw up."

"Oh," Casey paused and mulled the idea of that side of Gregory Richards in his head. "I see."

Olivia shook her head slowly. "No, you don't yet." Her eyes looked right through him again, but this time, she was looking at his future. "But perhaps someday soon."

"Do you notice he's not even bothering to disguise his handwriting anymore?" Gregory fumed as he threw the latest letter on to the table in disgust.

Roger lifted it and looked at the threatening letter through the plastic evidence bag. "Do we know how it got under the sofa in your living room?"

"Rose brought it in the moment she found it. Mr. St. John posted this letter nearly a week ago. It's another threat against Olivia and her pregnancy." Ricardo tucked the letter back inside the blank manila envelope he had brought it to the hospital in. "Your surprise trip to London must have upset his plans."

Gregory shoved a chair into the table and paced towards the window. "You're saying he went after my daughter because he couldn't hurt my wife?"

The detective tucked the envelope under his arm and nodded grimly. "It looks that way."

"What's next Detective?" Gregory asked with his back to Ricardo. He couldn't trust himself to look at either of them. The anger he depended on in moments of crisis was failing him. "He flies to London to hurt my son?"

"I don't think he'd go to that trouble." Roger replied with a quiet smile from his perch on the corner of the table. "Caitlin was a substitute for Olivia. She's the real target."

Ricardo fingered the edges of his badge thoughtfully. "That's it, isn't it?" The doctor was absolutely correct and he looked over at Gregory's back suspiciously. "Something happened that's made it personal between St. John and your wife."

Chuckling darkly, Gregory turned around slowly and stared down the detective in disbelief. "My wife did something that angered an international jewel thief? You can't be serious."

"No." Ricardo corrected as a picture started to become clear in his head. "She didn't anger him- she's just the right kind of target."

Gregory took a breath to explain to the detective just how wrong he was, but Roger coughed and finished the detective's thought for him. "St. John's made it personal between the two of you."

"That boy can't get to me and he knows it." Gregory sneered, certain that he could triumph over Cole St. John, the two-bit thief of Europe's back alleys.

"Oh he knows." Ricardo continued Roger's thought with a steady sureness. "He knows he can't hurt you. You don't feel."

"He's got you figured out." Roger's hand on his shoulder reminded Gregory not to hit the detective across the face like he wanted to. "Olivia was the only chink in your armor a man like St. John needed, at least until-"

The room became totally silent. All three men knew where Roger was headed and no one wanted to add the extra strength to their mutual horror by saying it aloud.

"But to answer my question, dear lady, yes, my father still speaks fondly of his time in Sunset Beach, and the beauty of the women he met during his time here." Cole promised Bette in his faux French accent that identified him as 'Julian'. "And do not fear, your beauty did not escape his discerning eye."

Bette batted her eyes in mock modesty. "Good." With their hospital breakfasts in hand, Cole opened the door to Caitlin's room and had to bite back his impulse to laugh in victory. Olivia had returned from England.

Better still was the fact that she looked like hell. The pregnancy that had his father so disgusted was obviously hard on her physically. A toll he was happy to have compounded with Caitlin's little 'accident'. The stress evident on her face sent a thrill of excitement down his spine as he sat down on the other side of the room. He let Bette take the seat next to Olivia. Cole wanted to take the time to enjoy the anticipation.

The two women shared a hug as he dug into his cheesy scrambled eggs. They were atrocious, but Cole cared little what he ate. Food did not interest him. Being this close to her was all he needed to get his heart racing.

He ate his dull buttered toast as he started with her feet. Sensible black flats, something she could slip off on the plane. He pictured her head on Gregory's lap, feet curled up on her seat. The greenish cast to her face spoke of the churning of her stomach. Her husband would speak softly to her, whisper in her ear that he loved her and he would always protect her.

What would Gregory whisper when he looked down at her in a hospital bed, those graceful cheekbones of hers stained with tears of pain, and had to tell her their baby was nothing more then a bloody mass of dead tissue. All the hopes they had for their precious baby would be washed away.

Cole's fingers went limp in desire as he ran searching eyes over her hands. Would her delicate fingers clench white in agony? He dropped his fork, the plastic clinking weakly against the floor.

They continued their conversation. He was blissfully ignored. Cole bent to retrieve his fork, wiping it off with his napkin and finding the hint of a swelling in her stomach. Pregnancy would be lovely for her figure, adding the fullness that promised new life. It was almost a shame he had to end it.


	56. this isn't happening

Olivia excused herself to get some fresh air moments before her husband returned. Already finished with his breakfast, Pretending to read a fashion magazine, some of the women in it were interesting, he pictured their faces contorting in pleasurable agony. He smiled to himself and settled back to listen to Bette express her concerns.

"She's barely staying awake sitting up in the chair, and she hasn't eaten anything since yesterday." Bette started in with her best lecturing voice. "Have you even looked at her? I know you don't put a lot of stock in the big G Greggy, lord knows you seem to think you can do it all yourself, but he might be trying to tell you something this time. Beauty looks better then Livie does and she's been out for a whole day. You have to do something."

"I'm not asking her to leave our daughter." He replied firmly as he stared down the bright pink nail polish on her fingertips. "Caitlin might be angry at us, she may even hate us, but she's still our daughter. We need to be here for her when she wakes up."

"I'm not saying you have to take her to the Caymans!" Bette's many ringed hand sparkled as it shook at him in consternation. "Just get her to lie down for awhile. Take her someplace quiet, see if you can do something about this mess you've gotten her into."

He leaned back in his chair and snickered softly as he folded his hands on his knees. "Because it's entirely my fault? I think you missed basic biology."

"It's half your baby. Livie's the one with ALL of the feeling miserable-" She slapped his face lightly in annoyance. "I think you owe her!"

"Owe me what?" Olivia asked from the doorway to Caitlin's room. Looking at her with newly warned eyes, Gregory saw the signs of weakness that had Bette so up in arms. The way she blinked slower then normal when she tried to smile at them and how each step was calculated as she made her way back into the room.

He was out of his chair in an instant to offer it to her. "A whole day of shopping." Gregory covered with easy confidence. "I was just telling Bette how we'd had to reschedule. How are you sweetheart?"

Her chest rose and fell once, slowly, before she even tried to answer him. "I've been better." Not allowing him enough of a pause for him to start snowballing his concerns, Olivia changed the subject. "What did Roger say about Caitlin?"

Gregory smiled and bent down to kiss her cheek, taking that time to think of something plausible. She didn't need to know their conversation had revolved around her instead of their daughter. "She's going to be fine. Just fine. When she wakes up they'll give her a few tests and let her come home."

His fingers caressed the back of her neck and almost made Olivia remember what it felt like not to have her head lost in a haze of dizziness.

Suddenly remembering something, he touched her face gently, secretly testing the feel of her skin. The invisible sweat that came off her cheek on his fingers was a strong point in favor of Bette's suggestion. "I've got another thing to ask him. Don't go away."

"Fat chance of that." Bette muttered under her breath. Turning her frown in a brilliant smile, she leaned over the arm of her chair towards Olivia. "See if he'll drive you to Santa Barbara, there aren't enough stores in Sunset to make a shopping trip with Gregory's open wallet worthwhile."

"I don't need that much." Olivia responded with the most enthusiasm she had managed since returning home. "I'm not even going to wear all of it very long."

"All the more fun." Her flamboyant friend disagreed with a wave of her hand. "Face it Livie, he's stuck you with the baby for nine whole months, at the very least, he can spoil you a little."

Putting a hand on her forehead did nothing for the sudden wave of dizziness that altered the lighting in the room. For a moment the florescent lights of the room were painfully bright. Olivia squinted until they faded back to normal. "He's been spoiling me. London was lovely- the leaves were falling, and everywhere we went had the crisp smell of fall. I went for a walk down the bank of the Thames."

"Spoiling equals things Livie." Bette clucked her tongue in mock dismay. "Haven't you learned anything from moi over our years of friendship?"

Olivia was trying to convince her tired mind to respond when Gregory returned and stole her from the conversation. "Roger would like to speak to us in his office."

Bette mouthed "Finally!" to him as he helped Olivia up from her chair. He replied with a chagrined nod of his head to her as he secured his arm around Olivia's back. "Keep an eye on things for us."

"Oh I always do Greggy, don't you worry your handsome head over it." Bette winked at Cole, who had happened to look up from his magazine at the right time. "Julian and I will hold down the fort just dandy won't we?"

Cole feigned distraction and barely nodded. His heartbeat had skyrocketed with excitement. Gregory taking Olivia to sleep in Roger's office was perfect, so perfect he couldn't have a better set up if he had choreographed the entire situation. Now it was only a matter of time.

Gregory led her directly to the sofa by the wall of Roger's office. Without a word, he guided her to sit and and knelt to remove her shoes. Olivia put a hand on his shoulder, lovingly digging her fingers into the soft fabric of his shirt. "Where's Roger?"

"Doing his rounds." He answer cryptically, nonplussed by the fact that the man they were supposed to be meeting was no where to be found. Getting back to his feet, Gregory retrieved a blanket from cabinet perched on the far wall. Unfolding it as he sat down next to her, he fluffed it over her head and tucked it around her side as he lay her down in his lap. "We're going to wait for him."

The blissful stillness of his lap and the sofa calmed any protest she would have mustered. "How long are we waiting?"

Gregory shrugged, reaching around for a book from the shelf behind him. All of the books were medical, and he tapped his fingers along the gilt lettered spines until he found what he wanted- a guide to prenatal development that was not too advanced for his limited medical knowledge. "A few hours," he told her gently as he searched the table of contents. Conception in the end of June made her nearly fourteen weeks already. Time was flying by. Before he even had time to appreciate the new changes in his life, something even newer appeared. How long would be it be before she needed the maternity clothes they hadn't had a chance to buy?

"You rest." Pulling a dark curl away from her face, Gregory ran his hand over the soft skin in front of her ear. Her face was still damp with perspiration. Was it really just exhaustion? "Bette knows where we are. She's keeping an eye on Caitlin. You don't have anything to worry about."

His calming words were lost to her. Moments after putting her head down, she was already out. Perhaps he had overestimated her health. Surprised by the sudden ice in the pit of his stomach, Gregory stopped reading. Was there something else wrong? The indomitable strength of his wife was something he took for granted. Olivia could simply be exhausted. After all, he had drug her out of bed in the middle of the night and flown her four thousand miles home only to drag her straight to the hospital. Compound that with the stress of waiting by their daughter's bedside and it was no wonder she had passed out the moment she was safe.

Her hair was silky between his fingers as he reassured himself that when she opened her eyes, she'd fine. Olivia had a knack of bouncing back.

The medical book he slogged through proved drier then he anticipated, and as Gregory grew bored with it, he began to realize Olivia's exhaustion wasn't all he was ignoring. All the trying things he blamed himself for inflicting on her were taking their toll on himself as well. After noting that the door was locked from the inside, he closed his eyes. When Roger needed to find them, Roger had a key.

"I'm afraid I must be leaving your side for awhile, I've been wearing this for nearly two days and it's starting to grow rank."

Bette laughed and shooed him out of Caitlin's room. Ironically, Cole's excuse to her had some basis in reality. Though he had no intention of returning to his apartment to change clothes. He was changing clothes. Cole retrieved the duffle bag he had left with a kind receptionist and ducked into the public restroom in the fourth floor corridor across from the offices. Folding his clothes into a neat bundle, he tucked them inside the duffle bag.

He slipped a surgical cap over his head and admired his reflection in the bathroom mirror. He looked very professional in his pale blue scrubs. No one would question his presence. Cole reached into the duffle bag for the delicately wrapped bundle. Removing a syringe from the bundle, he inserted it into rubber tipped bottle that accompanied it. The clear liquid filled the syringe as he pulled back the plunger. It could be anything, water, vodka, acid... Cole tapped the needle, removing air bubbles. This clear liquid had one, simple purpose. He checked his smile in the mirror and headed for the office of Dr. Roger Baxter.

The knob was locked, Gregory was always cautious, but Cole had a copy of all of Roger's keys from his little break in at the Lichfield. It had seemed prudent at the time.

The door clicked open. Cole shut it behind him and waited for his eyes to adjust to the darkness. Gregory had thoughtfully drawn the blinds closed before letting his dear wife fall asleep in his lap. Taking in his prey, he felt the rush of excitement that tingled up and down his spine.

Gregory's head was back, his eyes closed in sleep. The open medical text lay in his hand on the arm of the sofa. Cole's feet were ghostly silent as he advanced on the sofa. The syringe fell from his sleeve into his hand. Fingers caressed the smooth plastic as he slowly lifted the blanket from Olivia's sleeping body. Her face remained angelically peaceful, her sleep was unencumbered. She had no way of knowing the nightmare standing before her.

His touch was as light as cobwebs as he removed her arm from the blanket. Gently tucking the blanket back over her body. he laid her arm over it. Rolling up the sleeve of her soft purple sweater, he felt the electric sensation of her vulnerable skin. Her skin was the perfect type, the kind of pale that held marks long after the injury had passed. Cole caught her above the elbow, squeezing her arm just above the elbow brought the vein of her arm to the surface.

The syringe broke the skin of her arm, sliding into the vein without disturbing her rest. The liquid disappeared into her bloodstream. It would lurk there, invisibly turning her body against her. When it overtook her, she would be entirely defenseless. Her flesh would fail her, her precious husband-

Gregory stirred, the pages of the text rustling as his hand shifted. Cole looked up at him with a start, forgetting the needle still lodged in Olivia's arm. He removed it quickly, realizing his clumsiness would leave a bruise where the needle had slipped out of her vein into the surrounding tissue. Carefully unrolling her the arm of her sweater, he let her arm remain over the blanket as he shut the door and locked the office again.

"She just came out of it. The nurses are taking her to run a few tests on her nervous responses, but after that we'll be sending her home."

Gregory sighed in profound relief. "When can we see her?"

Roger balanced on the corner of his desk as he signed off on his rounds for the duty nurse. "She'll be back from her tests in a few minutes. Looking forward to seeing you too, must have decided to forgive you and Olivia after all." Setting the charts on his desk, he turned his attention to his friends.

"How's she doing?"

Closing his book and replacing it on the shelf behind him, Gregory squeezed her shoulder, urging her awake. "I'm sure she'll be fine when she hears Caitlin's all right."

Olivia woke to a pounding headache. Her head felt like a metal band had been placed around it in her sleep. The light outside her eyelids bored into it, drawing the vice tighter around her skull. She knew it was Gregory's hand on her shoulder, his voice conversing with the other man.

"Caitlin's awake darling. Roger says we can see her soon." Gregory promised as he moved his arm from her shoulder.

Olivia winced as he moved her head off his lap and helped her up to a sitting position. "She's awake?" Her head protested the movement, any movement, with a flash of prickling pain. Roger slid off the desk to get a closer look at her as she pulled away from Gregory's concerned touch on her temple. "My head hurts."

Both men shared a look as Gregory brought his hand back from her face. "Liv, Caitlin's fine. She's going home soon."

"And I think you're going to wait for her there love." Roger suggested firmly as he nudged Gregory with an elbow. "In bed."

"I can't leave Caitlin here-" The two men coaxed her up to her feet, balancing her between them. "She needs to know we love her."

"She knows Liv." Gregory pulled her in, holding her to his chest. Roger left her with Gregory, heading downstairs to enlist Casey and Bette to take her home. "I'll compromise with you. I'll take care of Caitlin. You go home and and take care of her little brother for her."

She hadn't thought of it that way and the ache in her head agreed with Gregory. "You won't fight with her?"

His left hand smoothed her hair down to her neck. "I'll be on my best behavior," Lowering his mouth to her ear, he felt the rush of emotion she had the incredibly ability to bring out in him. "You keep yourself safe for me." Gregory's voice betrayed his fear, the concern for her that tightened his chest. "Cate and I will be right home."

"Won't even have time to miss you." Olivia added as she slipped out of his arms with a half-smile bravely on her face. "I'll go home."

He rubbed her back as he led her to the door and her waiting escorts of Casey and Bette. "That's my girl."

Her arm hurt. Gregory caught her feeling the sore spot with her other hand. "Must have slept on it funny."

Catching him with that earnest apology in his eyes, Olivia leaned in to his goodbye kiss. HIs concern was comforting, and she couldn't help wishing he was coming home with her now. She knew Caitlin needed him, but maybe having him at her side might banish the sick feeling that twisted the pit of her stomach.

"I'll be home as soon as I can." Gregory promised as Bette crossed her arms impatiently behind Olivia.

"I know you will." She replied gently as she turned away from him towards Casey and the elevator.

Gregory caught her arm, running his hands over her sweater. Stepping up to her directly behind her, he whispered over her shoulder. "I love you."

Her knees were shaky as she stepped up to Bette at the elevator and she couldn't place the tension that knotted her stomach. There was nothing to be worried about. Gregory promised there was nothing to be afraid of. Casey and Bette talked across her, both undisturbed by their 'assignment' as her bodyguards. Their conversation went nowhere in particular, but the good-natured banter was a pleasant backdrop and contrast to the unease in her mind.

Even with them talking and attempting to joke with her, she couldn't shake whatever it was that had her stomach cramping. Olivia swallowed, but it wasn't nausea anymore. Was it part of the pain in her head? They paused on the ground floor.

"I'll go get the car." Casey offered to them as they reached the lobby.

Bette favored him with her best charming smile. "Isn't he a gentleman?"

Olivia nodded without listening. The cramps in her stomach took on a harder edge, becoming almost painful. It must have been obvious in her face because Bette's sparkling hand caught her arm. "Hey Livie, honey, you okay?"

"I don't know." She took a deep breath and tried to find an explanation. Brushing her dark hair back, she let the air out of her chest slowly. "I think I'm just tired."

Eyes wide in sympathy, Bette reached for her hand. "Then we'll sit down." She suggested calmly, ready to lead her to the chairs in the lobby.

Olivia closed down on her hand in a death grip. Her eyes locked with Bette's in terror, pain etched on her face. Her breath caught in her throat as the cramps exploded into agonizing pain. Bette rushed to her as she sank to her knees. Hissing through her teeth, Olivia struggled to breath through her pain. It burned up through her pelvis, radiating through her stomach in flashes of white-hot fire.

"Livie, what's wrong?"

Casey returned from the car in time to hear Bette's desperate cry. Rounding the corner, he saw Olivia fall to her knees, unable to answer.

"Olivia talk to me. Olivia?" Growing more frantic by the second, her voice rose in pitch and urgency as Casey ran over to them.

"Olivia?"

His sandals slamming against the white tiles, he passed them for the first orderly he found. Catching the young woman by the arm, Casey pointed towards the lobby. "We need help. Now."

"She's going home with Bette and Casey. They'll take good care of her." Roger balanced an elbow around his friend's shoulders, understanding Gregory's nervous state. "Though, this constant worry of yours really is romantic."

Gregory shrugged away, reaching for the brown plastic coffee pot in the visitors lounge. "Olivia is everything to me. You know that."

Winking as he ripped open a sugar packet over his own cup, Roger reached for a plastic spoon to stir it in. "I just like making you admit it."

"While we're on the subject of admissions," Gregory blew across the surface of his coffee before taking a sip. "How is living with Bette?"

"Quiet, neat, organized-" Roger's poker face burst into laughter, crinkling the skin around his green eyes. "Never a dull moment. She has a lust for life that's positively exhilarating."

"I'm not sure if I would have used those words exactly-" Gregory coughed suggestively as they headed back towards Caitlin's room. "I hope she finds you equally as interesting."

"You know me Richards, anything for a beautiful woman." Their moment of camaraderie was destroyed by the crackling of the PA system.

"Dr. Baxter to the ER immediately. Paging Dr. Baxter to the emergency room."

Roger downed his coffee and dumped the cup in the garbage can with a grimace. "Duty calls. Tell your beautiful daughter I'm glad she's feeling better and I'll stop by to check on your darling as soon as my shift is over."

"Thank you." Gregory called after him as Roger jogged to the elevator, responding with a wave of his hand as he dove inside.

"Where's Gregory?" Olivia screwed her eyes shut, tears escaping her eyelashes as she writhed away from the nurses. Doubling up, she curled into a ball on the gurney as they wheeled her into the emergency room. Bette ran alongside, wringing her hands helplessly as Olivia bit back a scream.

Her eyes fluttered open as the nurses started cataloguing her vital signs. Bette grabbed her face, swallowing back her horror as she felt the cold sweat on Olivia's face. "You're going to be all right. You just hold on Livie, the doctors are going to make sure you're all right."

The resident physician pulled Casey aside seriously. "We're going to need some information, are you her son?"

"No, no I'm, she's not my mother." Flustered, he stumbled over his thoughts as he blurted them out, "Roger Baxter is her doctor. Her name is Olivia- Olivia Richards- She's pregnant." Casey pointed at the doorway. "Her husband is upstairs, I'll can get him-"

The young doctor nodded quickly. "Go. Hurry." He activated the hospital intercom. "Dr. Baxter to the ER immediately..."

"Bette-" Olivia grabbed her arm, hanging on to her as she lost her breath to a new wave of pain. "Gregory-?" Her voice faded as she squirmed in agony, pulling her hand back to clutch at her stomach. "I need him."

"Casey's getting him right now honey. Gregory's coming." Fussing over her forehead, Bette tried to keep Olivia looking at her. "Roger's coming and he's going to make you all better You just hang on."

"But it hurts." Olivia whimpered as Bette took her hand away from her womb, holding it tight between both of hers. "It's the baby, oh god Bette, it's the baby- this can't be happening. Not again." Terrified and blinded by her pain, she pulled Bette down close, clinging to her. "Tell me it's not happening. Make it stop...please, please make it stop."

When she suddenly screamed, overwhelmed by the pain, all Bette could do was stand helplessly clutching Olivia's hand to her chest as it grew icy.

Caitlin's warm hug meant she had forgiven him. Maybe a brush with mortality had been all she needed to realize how important her parents were to her. That eurotrash boyfriend of hers, Julian Deschanel, stood in the corner. It was decent of him to have stayed with her all of this time. A Deschanel usually left when things got difficult, but he was still here.

"I am so sorry you had to come back early from London for me daddy." Caitlin started apologizing immediately. "I hope Sean wasn't too disappointed."

"Oh no, he wanted to come home too, but your mother and I-" Gregory felt his daughter's shoulders stiffen under his hands when he mentioned her mother. "Thought that his classes were more important. And we knew you'd be just fine."

"And I am." She announced with a huge smile that faded into an embarassed giggle. "Though, I feel a little stupid causing such a fuss."

"Your mother and I-" Gregory watched the same tension play over her face and wondered what it was about Olivia that had her so upset. Was it really just concern about the Cole hurting the baby? Or was there something deeper and darker? "Love you very much. Even when you're angry with us and we need you to know that. Your happiness is very, very important to us."

Caitlin pouted her full lips, unaware of her own expression. "Even if you're replacing me?"

"That's what this is about-" He buried his desire to laugh, remembering trying to explain to a very serious toddler that they'd still love her after her mother had another baby. "Caitlin, sweetheart, we've had this discussion before. Did we love you any less after Sean was born?"

"No..." She agreed weakly. She loved her brother, sometimes he was all she had in their terrible house while she grew up. "Of course not. It's just-"

"Just what?"

Casey burst through the door, his face white with fear. He knew what it felt like to have words rip his heart out. "We need you downstairs. Olivia-"

Shoving his daughter aside, all of Gregory's mind focused on the one thought that governed his existence.

"Olivia collapsed."

Without waiting for his mind, his mouth whispered, "No-" Thundering in his chest, his heart demanded to know so desperately it jumped into his throat. "Where is she?" Choking around the tightness in his throat, he forgot Caitlin was there. He forgot Julian was standing in the corner, watching him with a sadistic smile. Gregory followed Casey, and they were running.

He pressed the down button, beating the round plastic as the light came on. Kicking the corner of the elevator door didn't make it move any faster, but he needed to hit something. Destroy something.

Bette stayed by her, remaining the only constant in the room as the medical team stripped her of her clothes. The pale hospital gown only served to remind her of her vulnerability as it clung to her sweat-soaked skin. One of the nurses slipped a monitor over her finger, another wrapped something around her stomach.

The monitors came as Roger barked orders. Her heartbeat flashed in quick green lines, and the fetal monitor reported the hummingbird rate of the baby's. Keeping one eye on that, Roger straightened out her arm, enlisting an orderly to hold it still so he could draw blood. Olivia's sobbing ripped at his heart, but he needed to concentrate. Gently touching her tear-stained cheek, he smiled at her with all the confidence in the world. "You're going to be all right love. I'm not going to let you lose your baby. Trust me."

Roger's gentle smile gave her something to focus on and the tiniest glimmer of hope demanded to be recognized through the fog of pain.

"Dr. Baxter? Would you look at this?" Roger drifted out of her vision as the nurse drew his attention.

He pursed his lips in surprise as he looked at her arm. A not-so-careful hand had done something to vein in her arm that was already starting to form a deep purple bruise in the crook of her elbow. "Take blood from her other arm, run a tox screen immediately."

"Olivia?" Biting her lip hard enough that she tasted blood, Olivia held still to listen to him. "I know it's difficult but I need you to remember if you hurt your arm."

Shaking her head no, Olivia moaned as she turned away from him. "I don't know. I- I didn't."

"It's okay honey." Bette tried to calm her as she winced away from the needle the nurse was using to draw blood. "If Roger says you're going to be fine, you're going to be fine."

Gregory drummed his fingers on steel rail of the elevator as it crawled down the shaft towards her on the first floor. When the door finally opened with a chime he tore out of it, dragging Casey with him. "Where is she?"

Casey didn't have to answer when her scream of pain echoed across the hospital. Gregory ran. He followed the sound of her voice until he burst through the curtain surrounding her bed. Bette backed aside, letting him into the circle around her bed.

Her eyes were closed, forced shut to keep her pain inside. Thrashing back and forth against the hands that held her, Olivia was in trouble. Her skin shone with cold sweat and the agony in her voice reached into his chest to squeeze his heart. "Liv- Liv I'm here."

Gregory's voice, his arms around her shoulders, the smell of his cologne, the feel of his shirt against her face- everything about him kindled the spark of hope in her heart. "I'm here now."

Roger touched his shoulder, still keeping his eye on the monitors over her bed. Olivia's heartrate had slowed ten points just from the moment of her husband's arrival. Whispering over Gregory's shoulder, he tried to let her keep her new calm. "I need to talk to you for a moment, out of earshot."

Kissing her forehead put the taste of bitter sweat on his lips. "I'm going to talk to Roger, but I'll be right back."

Prying himself away from her dug at his heart, stabbing his chest with guilt as her eyes watched him go. "Make it quick." He hissed to Roger as Olivia's gasp of pain knifed through his ears.

"There's a mark on her arm. I think whatever is happening to her was chemically inflicted. I'm running a toxicology screen and we're treating her with heparin to prevent hemorrhaging." Roger lowered his voice, only Gregory could hear him. "Heparin won't do anything for her pain, but it will keep her from miscarrying."

"She's in a lot of pain." Gregory mussed his hair, nearly tearing it out. "What are you going to do for her? You can't let her."

"It depends." Roger sighed heavily as he listed their options. He'd want to kill him if his wife was lying there. "Stronger painkillers might hurt the fetus and I doubt either of you want to take that chance. I can treat the abdominal pain directly once I find out what in the hell he did to her."

"And you'll know that-?" Gregory advanced on him, tone rising in anger. "Dammit Roger, that's Olivia in there!"


	57. escape

"I know-" Roger reply with all the calm he could muster. "I know it's her- and I know- I know how you feel but you have to trust me now." He took a deep breath and urged Gregory to do the same. "I can treat her pain, but I don't want to put her pregnancy at further risk. Poor baby's under enough stress from the muscle spasms in her uterus."

Gregory's eyes flashed wildly back towards the curtain when Olivia cried out again, and this time she continued sobbing. Roger could tell he was losing the battle to keep Gregory's attention. "You listen to me now. I'm going to find out what's happening to her, and you are going to go in there and keep her calm. Tell her she's going to be all right. Tell her the baby's going to be all right and keep telling her until she believes you."

Removing his stethoscope from his neck, he pressed it into Gregory's hands. "I was saving this for your next appointment, but if you help her listen to her baby's heart I'm sure she'll calm right down." Releasing his shoulders Roger pushed him back towards the curtain. "I'll be back as soon as I know anything. You hit the emergency call button if she gets worse."

Bette was whispering to Olivia as she sobbed hysterically into her shoulder. The eccentric blonde had the look of desperation she only got when she was truly overwhelmed. His wife's shoulders were visibly shaking under Bette's caring hands, and he wanted to shove her aside and hold her. He needed to hold her.

The nurse standing nearby moved aside as he walked back in, plastering a warm smile on his face. "Thanks for being here for her Bette." He brushed her shoulder as he sat down on the bed at her side.

Still crying, trembling under the stress of her pain, Olivia opened her eyes at the feel of his hands on her shoulders. "Roger's down in the lab. He says you're going to be fine."

Shaking her head, her chin quivered as she stared at him in desperation. She wanted to hope. "But our baby- god, Gregory something's wrong with our baby and it's all my fault."

"No." Holding her against his chest, he lay down next to her. Gregory wrapped his arms around her. "No sweetheart, the baby's fine."

"But it hurts." She yanked her hand out of his grasp to hold the stabbing pain in her lower belly. "It hurts."

He unfolded the fingers of her fist, letting her clench down on his hand instead of the sheet she held balled up. "I know Liv and I am sorry, but you have to hang on."

Writhing from her side to lie on her back, she fixed her eyes on his. Gregory kept his gaze steady, pristinely calm. "Roger gave you something to help the baby. The baby's fine. You just hold on to me until he figures out how to help you."

"The baby-" The pain shot up again and he had to listen, helpless, as her breath hissed sharply in the back of her throat, preventing her from speaking. Gregory placed one end of the stethoscope in his ear and started to warm the flat metal end of it in his hand.

"Liv, the baby's going to be fine." Her stomach was sensitive and just the touch of his hand brought new tears to her eyes and another one of those terrible gasps. Gregory apologized with a kiss on her cheek. Finding the delicate rushing of the baby's heartbeat reminded him of the first time he had heard Caitlin. His life had changed forever in that moment, his world had expanded to accommodate the new life who depended on him, just as this new baby did.

Tucking the stethoscope carefully in her ears, he waited for the beautiful relief to fill her eyes. "That's our baby. Sweetheart, that's our baby." Gregory kissed her forehead, knowing his promise was as much for himself as it was for her. "He's safe and he's going to stay that way. No matter what I have to do. Believe me, Olivia."

"Oh darling." She could feel the new, quiet tears on her skin, followed by the softness of his lips as he smoothed them away. Gregory had a way with her sorrow that made it bearable, no matter how terrible it was. For all his difficulties with his own emotions, hers were something he could handle. Something he could take care of. The warm confidence in his gaze strengthened her heart. "I do, Gregory. I do believe you."

He danced his fingers lazily across her forehead, pleased and touched "You're just going to keep crying, aren't you?"

Olivia nodded, tilting her head into his chest and the smell of cologne and fabric softener from his oxford shirt. "I can't describe how horrified I was, how frightened- Gregory, I'd rather die then lose this baby."

Cold clamped around his heart. "Don't say that-" Fear made his eyes look glassy until he blinked it back with a bravely cheerful smile. "I think the baby needs you to stay right where you are Liv." The tip of his nose tickled her ear. "I know I do."

* * *

Caitlin sank into a chair beside Bette, sighing heavily. She wanted to go home. She didn't want to be stuck here in the hospital, listening to everyone flutter around worrying about her mother. Olivia's collapse could not have been more convenient. Her father, who was supposed to be protecting her and worrying about her, ran out of the room without even looking twice at her the moment he heard about her mother.

Cole sat down on her other side, he hid a grin behind his hand and reached for a magazine. This carefully choreographed miscarriage was taking too long. Hadn't Gregory and his doctor friend realized yet that it was a lost cause? AJ knew what he was doing, but the stubborn streak in the Richards family ran deep.

"I never thought I'd have to do this again." Bette thought aloud to herself. Cole realized immediately what was on her mind, but it took a few moments for Caitlin to see the opportunity in front of them.

"Do what again?" She finally asked with innocent curiosity. "Has mom been in the hospital before with this baby?" Bette took a second to answer, giving Caitlin enough time to get indignant. "God, having this baby is killing her isn't it?"

"No beauty, no, don't think that. She's not going to lose this baby." Bette fidgeted with her hands. Cole could watch her thinking, see the train of thought as she made the decision he'd been waiting for. "I was just- she did lose a baby." Touching Caitlin's hand, Bette remembered the little girl she'd held in the hospital waiting room while her parents lost their hope, all those years ago.

"And it was awful. One of the worst days of my life- of hers- of everyone's. Everything was going so well." Bette fished her lacy handkerchief out of her purse and crumpled it in her hand. "Your parents were so thrilled. Especially your father, he loved you so much, he just couldn't wait to have another baby." Bette sighed, taking Caitlin's hand inside hers and squeezing it. "But it wasn't mean to be. Livie had a miscarriage at five and a half months. It was terrible beauty, just terrible. She nearly died and everything fell apart."

"That was when she started drinking?" Disapproval dripped from her voice. "After she lost the baby?"

"After the miscarriage, even your parents weren't sure if their marriage was going to make it. They turned away from each other and your mother started drinking to fill the gap." Bette brushed the golden hair back from Caitlin's shoulders, smiling sadly. "But she's done with that now beauty. Don't you worry. Everything is going to be fine. Just fine."

"I hope so." The quiet look on Caitlin's face could have meant anything. Bette took it for pain and wrapped the young woman in a hug. Cole knew better. He knew she was thinking and he knew what to say to push her over the edge.

She held her for a long time. Wishing she could take the pain away from the whole suffering family. "I'm going to go keep an eye out for Roger. Get the news as quickly as I can. You take care of her now Julian."

Cole nodded, slipping easily back into his French accent. "I hope you and Dr. Baxter have good news for us soon. Caitlin's very concerned about her mother."

* * *

Bette paused near the door up from the laboratory, lying in wait for the good doctor at the sill of a window. She dabbed at the front of her red suit coat with a golden handkerchief. Olivia's tears had soaked through to her blouse beneath, but she wouldn't be able to deal with that until she got home to change. Hopefully sooner rather later, she'd already had enough of hospitals for the next few months.

Though with Olivia pregnant and that bastard still after her- Bette banished the thought. No one was prepared for a loss like that now. Not so close on the heels of Alex Mitchum's death. "You know we need this little one don't you big G?"

"I'm sure I don't have to remind you that it's not just Greg and Livie either. There's a group of people wandering around outside that hospital room who are really counting on that baby to mend a lot of wrongs." She chuckled to herself as she watched the sailboats in the harbor through the window. "I know it's a lot to put on a very tiny set of shoulders, but she has a hell of a lot of potential to draw on. You know her parents have strength, just make sure she gets her fair share of that, and she'll be fine."

"You know, I think there's something in the water that makes people talk to themselves in this town?" Roger teased as he took her arm and started leading her towards the emergency room at a brisk walk. "No one talked to themselves nearly this much in Manchester and the weather was better."

"Better?" She burst out laughing in relief. If Roger was happy enough to joke with her, Olivia's test results must have been good. "What could possibly be better than California sunshine? The fog and rain of Northern England?"

"There's variety in northern England. Here it's sunshine, sunshine, sunshine all the time. Snow has character. It floats down, it plays with you. It can be comforting or driving and bitter." He took the stairs instead of the elevator down to the first floor. "Sunshine's just too happy all the time. Doesn't change with your mood the way English weather, proper weather, does."

"Speaking of mood, you must have good news in that clandestine little folder of yours." Bette jogged a few steps to keep up as they hurried down a back hallway. "Livie's all right?"

Roger's green eyes twinkled, and if he'd had more time he would have spun her around in glee. "She's fine. I already called up to have Dr. Leigh take care of what that bastard used to poison her. We're past crisis and into revenge now."

She pulled him to a stop. "You sound like Greggie."

"You may not be his biggest fan, but the man is right some of the time." Roger kissed the bridge of her nose. "This is one of those times." They continued at his frenzied pace down the corridor, stopping just outside the double doors into emergency. "Now, Stanley, my fearless cohort, I can trust you to follow my lead?"

Bette finally got a chance to tuck her handkerchief away in her pocket. "Always anything for you Livingston."

"Good." A furtive glance made sure no one could hear him but her. "Olivia was poisoned with a drug called pitocin. I know you have a million questions, but bare with me. Suffice it to say, it means that Cole not only knows how to hurt her and the baby, but he also got access to her when only the people on the other side of that door knew where she was."

Bette whispered mysteriously back. "So there's a traitor?"

"A traitor, a bugging system. Something shady's going on, and we have to flush it out." Roger was in full plotting mode now, eyes shining with purpose. "So we lie. We fudge the truth, we sneak her away and make sure no one but you, Gregory and I know where she is. And I need your help."

"Wipe the smile off your face." He ordered as his own expression became grimly serious. "I've just told you that I'm sending your best friend away to a clinic, in a last-ditch effort to save her baby that will most likely fail and destroy her life. I have to be professional, but you-"

Her shocked gasp was perfect and the tears threatening her waterproof mascara were just the right touch. Roger nodded, pleased with her unwavering trust. "I'll owe you." He pushed open the door with a slow hand, his expression grim and quiet.

Caitlin, Julian, Casey and Heather jumped to their feet. "I wish there was an easier way to do this, but there's no way around bad news."


	58. trade

"That's it?" Gregory watched as the ER resident added the antidote solution to Olivia's IV.

"That's it." Dr. Leigh explained with a youthful grin that flashed his perfect white teeth. "Funny thing about hormone-based drugs is that they're extremely sensitive to changes in blood chemistry. Add the right thing and they stop working. If you think of them like a key, we've just changed the locks." He glanced over the monitors, taking everything in quickly without losing his smile.

"The baby's vitals look great." His pen scratched across her chart as he double checked her blood pressure. "Yours are a little more cause for concern Mrs. Richards. Your blood pressure has spiked and your heart rate is still too fast. It's all probably from the adrenaline." Tapping his pen cap shut, Dr. Leigh replaced her chart at the foot of her bed. "I know I'm asking a lot of you, but you need to calm down."

Olivia nodded quickly, biting her lip to keep it from trembling. She felt Gregory's arm go around her shoulders again. "You can do that can't you sweetheart?"

"I know you had a terrible scare Mrs. Richards, but the police are here now. No one's going to get to you now." His confidence was comforting, but Gregory knew he didn't know the situation.

"Thank you doctor." Shaking the young man's hand, Gregory smoothed the blankets over her lap as he sat back down. "See Olivia, everything turned out fine." Cupping her chin, he felt the quivering that echoed her unexpressed fears. "Now we just have to get you out of here. Take you away from this awful place. Somewhere safe."

"Where could we possibly go?" She pulled her head away, knowing she had a responsibility to keep her emotions under control. But fear had her. Fear raced through her veins that not even Gregory could chase away. "He found me in the hospital. He nearly killed our baby. How can you say anywhere is safe?"

Gregory had run out of things to say. He couldn't explain that Cole had reached her because he had failed. He had fallen asleep and let that bastard reach right over his hand to get her. Cole had touched her, his hands had been on her skin. It was his fault. Grabbing her and holding her tightly to his chest kept her from seeing the guilt in his eyes.

* * *

"I'm sending Olivia to a specialist. There's nothing we can do for her here." Roger reached for Bette's hand as if he couldn't continue without her support. "She's being prepped for her medivac right now."

"Did she lose the baby?" Caitlin ran a hand through her hair, remarkably unruffled by Roger's grim demeanor.

Casey's first thought was less confrontational. "What specialist are you sending her too? Where's she going."

Sighing and playing with the rings on Bette's hand nervously, Roger answered their question one at a time. "The Mayo Clinic, they have some of the best obstetricians on the planet. And no. She hasn't lost the baby, but neither of them are doing very well. We've got Olivia stabilized, but just barely."

Casey swallowed, growing instantly pale as he felt a double-edged sword cut into his gut. He'd just been here. Sitting in the hospital and waiting for the doctors who seemed only to have bad news. Olivia reminded him more of Alex than he wanted to admit to himself. Her sudden collapse twisted up his stomach in the same knots. Heather rested her head on his shoulder, her hair hanging down his chest in long golden curls. Her hand was on his wrist, proving she was there. Right there with him.

Cole looked concerned. He knew how to mold his face to show whatever emotion he wished. Caitlin's control wasn't as polished. Her blue eyes had a vicious glint to them. "Can we see her?"

Roger shook his head, raising and lowering his free hand impotently. "She's unconscious and I'm afraid she needs to be transferred as quickly as possible. Your father's going with her. I'll make sure he comes out so you get a chance to say goodbye- but I cannot stress the importance of getting Olivia to a specialist at Mayo immediately. You'll have to make it quick. Excuse me."

Casey was obviously the most upset, so Roger patted his shoulder as he headed for the closed door to Olivia's room. "Keep your chin up sport."

* * *

"Is she healthy enough to travel?" Gregory whispered urgently as he backed Roger into a corner. "You can't take her out of the hospital. How is this good for Olivia?"

"You've got to give her a little credit." Roger gently added his hand to the arm Gregory used to keep him pinned. "She's a gutsy woman and to be honest, all she really needs is to be away from that bastard. We wouldn't even be here if he was in prison where he belongs."

Throwing her legs over the side of the bed, Olivia stood up slowly. Careful to respect her body's limits, she kept a steadying hand on her bed. "I can hear you two."

Gregory whirled around and caught her arms instantly. "You shouldn't be out of bed."

"You shouldn't talk about me as if I'm not here." Olivia corrected, with her own patronizing tone. "I'm all right now and I would like to be out of here. I'd rather be home."

"Not home yet love." Roger set his clipboard down on her bed and helped Gregory urge her back into it. "You're going away for awhile. The detectives have some work to do here and you'll be better off far away from here. Just trust me and do what I ask. Both of you."

Nodding to Roger, Olivia took her husband's hand and agreed. "I just don't want to be left out of what's going on. I think I have a right to know."

Gregory looked up from the floor, jaw tight with guilt. "Ever since Cole was in our house, we've been concerned that we might need an escape route. We never planned on using it-"

"But now seems like the appropriate moment." Both men shared a look, like toy boys caught breaking a window with a baseball. The doctor smiled slightly. "I'll tell you our whole plan. Gregory has to go talk to your daughter."

"How is Caitlin?" Her shoulders relaxed a little and her eyes grew brighter at the thought of her daughter. "She's all right isn't she?"

Roger folded his hands over his chest thoughtfully. "She's a little concerned about you, but she's all right. She's going home, that nice young man of hers is going with her. There's nothing to worry about."

"You and Gregory both keep saying that." Olivia pointed out with mild annoyance.

Chuckling slightly, Roger studied the small white feet dangling next to his shows. "Probably because we wish it was true."

"Even send me away?" Olivia pulled her feet up and tucked them beneath the blankets of the bed. The indigence was gone. She was very small and very alone. "Where am I going?"

"Hey, don't look at me like that." Roger's fingers wrapped warm around her shoulder through the thin hospital gown. "Gregory's going with you. Think of it as a vacation. A romantic getaway. Your big last chance before the baby starts to get really demanding."

Though her tone was dry, her eyes hinted at a smile. "I don't know what's romantic about running from a man who's trying to kill me."

Raising an eyebrow in surprise, Roger shook his head as he choked back his laughter. "Bette's right. You do need to watch more television."

* * *

The ceiling was foreign, dark wooden beams crossed the whitewash. The sunlight streaming through the window poured onto the foot of the bed and crept up towards her face. Olivia moved her arm lazily over the edge of the brightly colored quilt and felt the heat of the autumn sunshine warm the skin of her hand. Rolling over slowly, she found Gregory's side of the bed empty again.

Like the past three mornings, he was gone to town already. Gregory could be taken out of his office, but the office never really left his mind. There weren't any clocks in the bedroom. In fact, there wasn't a clock in the entire villa. Alex had escaped here and her touch was on every piece of furniture. From the billowing silk curtains, to the bright cherry wood used in the cabinets. This was her place, her haven.

In a way her ghost was comforting. Alex's residual presence gave the villa a feeling of safety and warmth. Gregory's note was on the table in the same place as yesterday and the day before.

"Good morning Liv, I love you. Your breakfast is in the kitchen. I'll be back at noon."

He had signed the bottom with an elaborate cursive G. She could feel the depression his pen had left in the paper. Lifting it from the heavy dining room table, she held it to her heart as she walked into the kitchen. There were flowers in the vase next to the stove, tiny starbursts of pink, late for this time of year. He must have looked for some time to find them and Olivia smiled at the sentiment. He was so sweet when he wanted to be.

Breakfast was inside the stone shelf of the wall. Today it was simple; fruit, cheese, crusty bread with butter from their trip to the market yesterday. There was tea on stove, ready to be heated up and the ominous line of prescriptions. Olivia struck a match and lit the burner.

The blue flames jumped up to lick at the copper kettle as she untwisted the plastic cap of her vitamins. One from that bottle, then a tiny white one from an orange plastic bottle, and finally the last two blue pills. Thankfully that one was starting to run low, she realized she was almost free of those. She swallowed the first two with a gulp of water and took another sip before swallowing the last pair.

The medication left a metallic taste in her mouth and Olivia's left hand went over her womb. The drugs were for the baby. They encouraged her body to maintain her pregnancy, keeping her blood pressure down and filling her blood with clotting factors. Undoing the damage Cole had caused was the first priority. The blood pressure pills were fine, as were the vitamins. The blue ones, muscle relaxants, kept the terrifying stomach cramps away but they made her whole body feel heavy. Olivia would be relieved when those were gone.

The kettle whistled her back to reality. Turning off the heat she poured it into the blue mug Gregory had set out for her and retreated to the veranda. The air was hot this morning and heavy with humidity. The sunlight that had erupted over her bed this morning was already starting to fall behind a cloud. Curling her feet up on the cushion of the chair, Olivia wrapped her fingers around the warmth of her tea cup and took a bite of her bread.

Far down the hill the villa rested on, a group of children drove a herd of goats up the hill. As their laughter drifted up to her cobble stoned veranda, she couldn't help picturing her son running over the hill up to the villa, his brown hair mussed with dried bits of grape leaves. Would life be so bad if they didn't hurry to go back home?

* * *

Gregory sat on the velvet covered bench in the hallway leading to the parlor of the palace overlooking the tiny Italian town of Garaspuglia, not far from the Florentine countryside where he had honeymooned so many years ago. The villa they stayed in had been a wedding gift. A thoughtful gesture of a mysterious benefactor Olivia knew nothing about. A benefactor that commanded even Gregory's utmost respect.

The beautifully carved door to the parlor opened with a slow creak. The smoke of an expensive cigar wafted out as the impeccably clad Conciliatore opened it to allow him in. "You may enter."

Gregory stood, folding his hands neatly behind his back. He kept his eyes politely on the face of the Conciliatore. Remembering the thin, elderly lawyer from their first meeting nearly thirty years ago, when he had opened a door for a young man without a future. That young man, who had nothing to his name, had eagerly embraced the offer of a life with meaning. A life of purpose, and a family to replace the one his father had left him without.

The cigar smoke was aromatic, rich and dark as it spiraled up from the chair behind the mammoth desk. Ornately carved with a panorama of angels and demons, even the feet it rested upon were works of art. Sitting down on the leather armchair to the right of the desk, the Conciliatore spared him a smile.

"Gregory Richards is here, sir."

Turning without a sound, the chair behind the desk whirled to bring Gregory face to face with the one man in the world who could make the hair on the back of his neck stand up with respect and a healthy sense of fear. Holding his cigar in his left hand, Don Tribuno Ricciardi would have been at home in the ancient courts of Rome. He was tall, Gregory's equal in height, but heavier. The hand that waved for Gregory to speak was muscular and heavy with a thick gold band on his ring finger.

"Il ritorno di un Prodigy come lei sempre mi porta molta felicità Gregorio." The voice of the Don was as heavy as the velvet of his curtains, and as rich as his prized merlot.

Gregory wasted no time with the traditional reply. "È il mio piacere servire la vostra mano Don Ricciardi."

The Don remained comfortably seated as he gestured for Gregory to join him. "Please, be seated Gregorio."

"Thank you for allowing me a moment of your time." Gregory put on hand on the arm of the cool leather, keeping his face carefully neutral. "I know how precious it is."

The Don laughed, a deep rumbling that shook his chest. "Family is the most precious of all things, and you, though you have lost your true name, are still family. Child of my wayward uncle and friend to family interests in California."

Gregory smoothed his suit coat thoughtfully. "The Liberty Corperation is only too happy to assist family interests. I trust you will continue to be contented with your share as the new hospital is completed?"

"Yes, yes." The Don paused to take a sip of wine. "Building the new hospital was a stroke of genius on your part. Genius my father recognized when he brought you into this family. But enough of business. Tell me of your wife and children. My ears tell me you've recently given your Olivia another child."

Gregory nodded curtly. "It was a surprise at this stage in our lives, but a welcome one."

Pouring another glass, the Don set it in front of Gregory and lifted his own. "Congratulations to you and your wife. A child is always a blessing." They lifted their glasses in a quick toast.

"That brings me to why I am here." The wine was rich and spicy as it ran down his throat. "I must beg a favor of the family. There is a man who threatens my wife and our unborn baby. A man who has eluded my resources and those of the police."

"This man threatens a pregnant woman?" The Don's wine glass slammed down onto the desk, rattling his pens in their gilded holders. "It would be my pleasure to have him taken care of for you."

Gregory's eyes glistened in cold fury and his fingers went white as his grip tightened. "I appreciate your offer, but I need him alive. I want to look into his eyes-"

"You ask for a life." Leaning back in his chair, the Don took a long puff of his cigar.

The Conciliatore stood from the leather sofa and crossed to Don Ricciardi's side. "You are aware of the price of such a request."

"A life for a life." Gregory quoted with a slight smile. He could sense his victory. "I understand the weight of my request but it pales to the weight of this man's crimes. He broke into my wife's bedroom while she was sleeping, shot at her from a rooftop, and even went as far as to cut the brake lines of my car."

He paused, if that had been all, Gregory could still have handled him personally. "I could have contrived a punishment on my own, but just a few days ago he attacked my wife while she slept and nearly murdered our unborn baby." Slamming his fist down against the arm of the chair, he spat out his words. "I would trade anything and everything to feel his heart stop beating under my bare hands."

Lips curling a hellish smile, Don Tribuno Ricciardi extended his hand to Gregory. "I doubt you will find your price that difficult to bear. I am a reasonable man."

He kissed the golden band on the Don's hand as he stood, knowing he was done. "I trusted that you were."

The Conciliatore made the arrangements, a slim datebook in hand. "Because we understand the delicate nature of her condition, we will give you all the time she needs to recover, then you and the lovely Olivia will be guests of Senor Ricciardi and his wife here for dinner."

"While our wives discuss babies, you will make your vows before the leaders of this family." Reaching in the top drawer of his desk, the Don retrieved a cigar and passed it over to Gregory.

Biting off the end, Gregory accepted the light with a smile. "A life for a life."

* * *

The smell of the cigar still clung to his clothes when he returned to the villa. Gregory approached from the back, his suit coat was over his arm and his tie dangling free from his shoulder. He ran up the stairs and hung up his suit in the closet. Roger had doubted he'd even need a suit at all, but Gregory had insisted Ethan pack it for him. Ricciardi would have considered it an offense if he had appeared wearing anything less then the best.

Gregory stripped off the starched white shirt and black pants, trading them in for khakis and a blue polo shirt. Hurrying down the stairs in his bare feet, he snuck up on Olivia. She was still in her grey nightgown, her robe had been left aside on her chair when the day grew warmer. The plate of her breakfast was empty on the table. Relieved that she had eaten, he leaned down to kiss her head.

"Liv you look better every day we're here."

Slowly smiling, she tilted her head back to feast her eyes on him. "I missed you."

Kneeling at her feet, Gregory hugged her, resting his head in her lap. "I had some things to finish in town-"

Olivia dug her hands into his hair, smiling contentedly. "Don't apologize darling. You're here now."


	59. una vita per una vita

The ominous look of the horizon spoiled Gregory's plans for an after dinner walk. In all honesty, Olivia was a little grateful for the inclement weather. Curling up by the fire he was building in the hearth of the bedroom seemed infinitely more rewarding. She was tired again, but at least now she knew to blame the medication. Those dammed blue pills made every movement that much more tiring then it would normally be.

Just watching Gregory bustle about the kitchen washing the dinner dishes made her ache with exhaustion. Cate and Sean would never believe how domestic their father could be. They were both too little to remember him cooking before he got too busy at the office. Before he stopped wanting to cook for her.

Gregory sat back from the fireplace, brushing his hands on rag and looked rather pleased with his little blaze. "That should help keep the rain out."

Olivia nodded slowly, reaching for the blanket on the foot of the bed. She started to pull it around her shoulders. Though the days were still warm, the chill at night was a growing reminder that the seasons were changing. She had forgot what winter was like in the unchanging beauty of southern California. "It's lovely darling."

He retrieved his glass of wine from the ledge surrounding the fire and sipped it languidly. Gregory took his time watching the firelight grow into a glimmer in her eyes. The green blanket tightened around her shoulders and he realized she was cold. She was so much more sensitive when she was pregnant. Everything affected her more. He knew he couldn't understand what changes took over her body when she carried their children.

Olivia's hand rested over her stomach. Both of them kept their hands there more often when she was pregnant. It was as close as they could get to their baby. Her engagement ring, the diamond he'd given her, refracted the light from the fire into tiny points of light that danced over her robe and the blanket over it. Gregory set his wine down on the night table and sat down on the bed next to her. Wrapping his arms around over her blanket, he rested his head on her shoulder.

Outside the bedroom, the rain started to pound down on the roof over their heads. She nestled closer, letting him slide his hands down to the baby. "You were right." Olivia whispered contentedly.

"Right about what Liv?" Trapped between his hands on her stomach, her cool fingers started to warm. Her hair tickled his neck as she titled her head. Loose dark curls escaping her shoulders and crossing over to his chest.

"It's safe here." Her quiet admission came with a sigh of relief. After the attack at the hospital, both of them had been on edge. Only now he could feel her shoulders relaxing.

"You're going to be safe now." Gregory leaned back, taking her with him to the pillows. "When we go home, Cole won't be able to come after you anymore."

Thunder boomed outside, making her jump. He tightened his arm around her shoulder, rubbing his hand up and down her arm. Curious, Olivia tilted her head up towards him. "How do you know that?"

Gregory's silence was nearly as ominous as the next clap of thunder. "I found a lead on him and it should be enough to keep him away from you for good."

Her voice quavered a little, and he could feel her fingers take a better grip on his arm. "Do you really think so?"

He sat up slightly, forcing her to lift her head. "This time, I do." Gregory smoothed her hair back away from her forehead. "I really do."

His eyes said there was more. Secrets he wasn't ready to share with her. Another time she might have pushed him, but she was tired. Fear was still a familiar sensation, one that took much of her energy. She didn't have enough strength to keep fighting Cole. The memory of the terrible pains in her stomach were too fresh, so was the horror that came along with it. She didn't care what revenge Gregory had planned for Cole. Cole deserved Gregory's worst.

The thunder echoed through their bedroom again, this time the lightning flashed across the ceiling. Olivia curled closer to him, dragging her knee up over his leg. "Remember our first storm?"

Gregory stroked her head thoughtfully, drifting through his memories. "When the electricity was knocked out all down Ocean Avenue. We don't have any lights to lose Olivia."

She ran her hand over his chest, stopping with her palm over his heart. "I don't know if I'm up to our 'solution' tonight either." Staring down into the fire, she licked her lips, wishing she could be more energetic for her. "I'm sorry darling-"

Gregory's chuckling surprised her. "There's no reason to apologize. We'll have more then enough time for that."

His confidence brought her a small smile. "You think so? With our son running around underfoot, me up to my elbows in paperwork at Liberty and you dashing off to save the world from criminals?"

Olivia felt his chest shake with laughter. "Some things are worth making time for, even if it's at lunch, on your desk in between meetings."

"Why not your desk?" Propping herself up on one elbow, she raised an eyebrow playfully.

Gregory half sat up, reaching for her chin gently. "My new desk is going to be in the Federal Building. I don't think it'll be appropriate for the new District Attorney to 'break in' his office that way." His breath was hot as he kissed her. "No matter how much he'd like too."

"And he would?" Olivia prodded with a wicked glint in her eyes.

He leaned closer, near enough to smell the rosemary in her hair. "There are few things in this world he'd rather do." Gregory slipped away from her, leaning back against the headboard as he reached for his glass of wine. "But, not tonight."

Sitting up with her back to him, Olivia's hand went to her head as it protested the motion. She hated the weakness, the way it infected every aspect of her life. Most of all she hated feeling fragile, hated the headaches and the way her muscles ached. Her body wasn't hers now that she was pregnant, it didn't respond to her wishes anymore.

Gregory stopped reaching for the book by his wine and stretched his hand out to her back. "And that's all right sweetheart." His wine went back to the table by the bed, freeing his other hand for her shoulder. "Come here."

His hands folded around her waist, settling her into his lap. Resting her head against his chest, Olivia sighed heavily and let her eyes close. "I'm sorry."

"We covered the fact that you shouldn't apologize, didn't we?" Gregory reminded her firmly as he figured out how to drink the last of his wine around her body. "It's our baby Liv. I should be apologizing to you because I can't share this with you." The soft silk of her robe caught on the rough skin on the palms of his hands. Bringing the firewood had torn up the skin.

"You got to share the fun part." She teased as he straightened the blanket around her legs. "You should consider yourself lucky."

For awhile they just listened to the rain, tapping against the tiles of the roof above them. As their silence continued, Gregory started to think she'd fallen asleep, but her mind was wandering.

"When do you think it was?" She finally voiced curiously. "In Wisconsin? Or before we left?"

Gregory's guilty expression was safely behind her head. His voice was carefully neutral. "I didn't think they could narrow the date down any more then a week. As I remember it, there was a lot going on that week in the end of June."

Olivia raised her head to his shoulder, watching her fingers and trying to remember what he was referring too. "It just happened so suddenly. As soon as we're talking about having a baby, we're pregnant. I would like to think that we'd know when we made our baby. Do you think we felt something and discounted it at the time?"

"Perhaps." Gregory's hand slipped under her arm to rest on her stomach. "What are you getting at?"

"Oh nothing really." Then she paused, remembering her first conversation with Roger when she went to him for help. "Actually, now that you mention it, there was something odd about the way Roger suspected I was pregnant. When I first approached him for the fertility drugs, the ones Alex helped me with-"

A sudden bolt of lightning rattled the tiles on the roof as the thunder came directly on top of the flash.

"Somehow he knew I was already pregnant." Olivia finished thoughtfully.

Gregory turned his head secretively to the window. "Must just be a lucky guess of his. No one knows how Roger's mind works." His long-suffering conscience nudged him, reminding him that Olivia would love him, no matter he had done. He steered her away. "I think it happened in Wisconsin. There's something about hotel beds-"

"It's because I cried." She realized suddenly, twisting the corner of her mouth up in a half smile. "You think it was then because I cried."

He nodded quickly, relieved he'd been again spared his admission of guilt. Even if Olivia didn't react poorly to his actions, she'd certainly take issue with his timing. Cole wouldn't be the most terrifying thing to ever come to sunset Beach if Olivia wasn't pregnant.

"It is one of your more disconcerting character traits." Gregory admitted sardonically as he masked his concern with gruffness. "When you cry, I want to make it stop. I-"

"You like to control everything." Olivia answered for him, trying to save him the vulnerability.

Gregory's tone dropped seriously, even carrying a trace of regret through to his fingertips on her forehead. "I'd rather not be the cause of any more of your tears."

"I don't mind crying when you're with me."

The thunder rumbled overhead, drowning out any attempt at a reply. Instinctually they moved closer to each other, taking comfort in their proximity to each other.

Olivia's kiss surprised him with sweetness and her gentle laughter added to the calming effect of her warmth. "I'm sorry, darling, but you're going to have to find a way to deal with me." Her blue eyes regarded him with pity as she sat up from his chest. "I'm always an emotional wreck when I'm pregnant. I'm sure you haven't seen the worst of it."

Taking her face in his hands, Gregory let the rain be the only sound in their bedroom as he tried to quiet the storm in his heart. "For you, Olivia, I could learn to fly."

* * *

Filling the parlor with haze, the cigar smoke from the lips of the secretive circle rose to the ceiling. Tribuno Ricciardi stood behind his desk, the Conciliatore at his left hand. Gregory knew the faces, but no names were used at this meeting. Every body in the circle of six exuded wealth. From the toes of the hand-shined leather shoes pointing in towards the center, to the rings and the watches that glittered in the weak light from the gas lamps, it was obvious that these were men of distinction. Men of power and purpose.

He was accustomed to being the wolf among sheep, but here he was surrounding by men of his caliber. One glance around the circle sealed the fact that he was surrounded by predators. After he cleared his throat, the dry voice of the Conciliatore began the ceremony of the binding.

"On behalf of Don Tribuno, I am pleased to be in the august presence of so many fine gentlemen. And it is no small occasion to bring the heads of the family together in such a fashion, but I think you can all agree it is necessary. A member of our family has a promise to make that must fall on all of your ears." He inclined his head a few degrees towards Gregory. Setting down the ornate silver goblet on the small mahogany table in the center of the circle, the Conciliatore returned to his place at the left hand of the Don.

Tribuno lit a new cigar, smacking his lips around it as he inhaled deeply. "Though his father cut himself off from the family, and even went as far as to change his name to hide himself, Gregory Richards returns to us, his family- his blood, to offer the most scared of oaths."

"Una vita per una vita." He intoned regally as he watched his eldest son, Gaetano, add the silver dagger with the crest of Ricciardi stamped on the hilt across the rim of the goblet. "The greatest thing you can ask of your family, in return for the greatest gift you can give them." Tribuno touched Gregory's elbow, signaling that it was time for him to step forward.

Gregory took the dagger in his right hand, wrapping his fingers around the heavy metal of the hilt. He liked the weight of it in his hand, the power it conveyed in the perfect edge of the blade. "I, Gregory Richards, humbly ask the family that shares the blood in my veins to give me the life of Cole St. John, the man who threatens everything and everyone who is dear to me."

"I understand the gravity of my request, and to show the seriousness with which it is intended, I have a life to trade." The fury in Olivia's eyes would physically scorch him when she found out, but he continued. He could almost feel Cole within his grasp. The corded muscles of that bastard's neck bulging beneath his hands as he squeezed the last from him.

"On behalf of the child my wife carries, I make this oath to the family Ricciardi, from the first breath to the last sigh, my child will serve the family in whatever capacity he or she is best suited." Gregory drug the dagger's edge over the fleshy pad of his left ring finger. Blood welled up, rich and red in response. It ran down his finger and dropped into the silver goblet, splashing against the bare metal.

"I seal my promise with my blood, Ricciardi blood." Gregory wiped the blade of the dagger on his handkerchief. Careful to keep his bleeding finger over the rim of the goblet, he slapped the hilt of the dagger down into the Don's outstretched palm.

Tribuno set his cigar down on his desk and made his grip on the dagger comfortable. Choosing the same finger on his own hand, he cut deeply into his flesh. "By blood is your oath accepted on behalf of your child, who is of you and of this family."

Gaetano covered the blood with a thick layer of wine, lifting the cup and swirling it to mix everything together. When he was satisfied, he handed it reverently to his father.

Tribuno raised the cup to his lips and took a healthy sip. "As head of this family, the blood oath will be upheld."

Gregory stared into the eyes of his cousin, the same deadly brown as his own, as he took a sip of the fragrant wine. "On my honor, the blood oath will be upheld."

The silver goblet was passed around the circle of strength. Each hand that took it and each pair of lips that drunk from it strengthened the oath. When the cup returned, Gregory finished the last of the wine and grinned to the empty cup. Flashing in the weak light, his bared teeth were a predatory smile that went around the circle as a contagion. Cole's fate was sealed.


	60. misdirection

Gregory's kiss on her cheek smelled of rich wine and cigar smoke. Constanza winked at her as her own husband, Tribuno, performed a similar act of contrition. "Men always think that they can disappear mysteriously to talk their business and one little kiss will remove the any feelings of animosity that have appeared in their absence."

"Faccia bella, is this your way of asking for two kisses?" Tribuno teased his wife as he took her by the shoulders. "Or three?" The elegant Senora Ricciardi laughed and allowed him to kiss both of her cheeks. She kept her face austere and Tribuno had to resort to kissing her lips to get her to smile.

"I am sorry to have abandoned you, but my business with Gregory was terribly dull. Dull enough that it would have put you two lovely ladies off of your appetite for dessert." Tribuno insisted as he let his wife steer him back towards the table. As he pulled out her chair to seat her, he watched sternly as Gregory followed suit with Olivia. "And I am told that you, piccola ragazza, have been put off your appetite quite enough lately."

Though she didn't understand the italian phrase, she understood the warm concern in his voice. It was a worry Gregory shared. The two weeks they'd spent in Italy so far had flown by, but her body was running behind. She was midway though her fourth month, when she carried Sean she'd been showing by now. Instead of rounding out her body, her pregnancy was a whisper in her figure that barely stirred her dress as it cascaded down her over her stomach.

The burgundy silk gown was a gift from Senora Ricciardi, who sympathized with their hurried tale of escape. Gregory must have let it slip in one of his visits that they had brought little to wear, and Olivia had absolutely nothing appropriate for a dinner party. Constanza was only too happy to play the benefactor.

Now she clucked her tongue in agreement with her husband as she poured his coffee. "Tribuno is right, you are too little. Gregory must not be feeding you enough." Without noticing her slip in Italian, Constanza continued to tease her. "Una donna incinta dovrebbe emettere luce, irradia la salute e la vita. Siete bianchi quanto la luna di inverno e sottili come le canne nel lago."

Gregory started to chuckle and Tribuno joined in as they enjoyed the puzzled expression on Olivia's face. "A pregnant woman-" He began to translate as he sank his fork into his almond cake, but still laughing, he shook his head. "You're too thin and too pale for Connie's taste."

Feeling a little put out by being the only one out of the joke, Olivia delayed starting her cake and drew a disapproving stare from the overbearing lady of the household. "Haven't you been sick when you're pregnant?"

Tribuno traded Olivia's untouched piece of cake for a much larger one. "My wife has had five of my children, and not only is she never ill, but each time she refuses to take advantage of my good will and even feign being sick. Connie would have had five more if I had let her."

Gregory choked on his coffee and his the coughing turned to rolling laughter as he tried to imagine how much damage Olivia would do done to him if he suggested two more children after this one. Not that she would object to the children themselves, but he doubted her body would stand up to that kind of abuse. The nausea, the headaches, the way her eyes always looked tired when she was pregnant- all of that was something she should be sainted for being so willing to take on once. Asking her again would be cruel. He had enough guilt this time.

Olivia took his hand, wrapping small fingers around his wrist as if she could tell what he was thinking. "I'm afraid I'm not as lucky."

Constanza took the teapot from a neatly dressed maid and filled the cup in front of Olivia. "You've a more delicate constitution, more house-cat than workhorse, and it's nothing to be ashamed of." Her deep blue eyes were strong and steady as she met Olivia's gaze. "I'm just descended from a long line of goat-herders and olive-farmers." To support her words, she held out her hands; tan, worn and roughened from years of work in the kitchen and field. "Tribuno would love to see me be more elegant and refined like his dear momma and Nona Clarastella, but I wouldn't be his innamorata if I was."

Dropping two sugar cubes into her tea out of habit, Gregory stirred the cup before passing it to Olivia.

On the other side of the table, Tribuno took his wife's hand and kissed it warmly. "And I love her for every mark on her hands."

* * *

Cole tossed his feet up on the dining room table, drawing a frustrated snort from his father as AJ had to scrambled to pull his pictures away from the dirty shoes. "Be careful where you put those." 

Giving his father a nonchalant wave of dismissal, Cole kept his feet where they were. "You'll have the real thing soon enough." He picked up one of the nearest pictures and looked it over. The petite figure of Olivia Richards walked the hallway of the Mayo Clinic, Gregory's arm around her shoulders protectively.

"She hasn't been out of that hospital in three weeks. Gregory doesn't leave her side. It's obvious she's lost the baby." He tossed the photograph back to the table and watched as his father snatched it back nervously. "It shouldn't be hard to drive a wedge between them. Just sweep in and do you charming thing and take her away. Bette told Cate and I that her first miscarriage nearly destroyed her marriage, made her an alcoholic-"

Cole flashed his father a bored smile. "Seems too easy to jump in and take her away, if she's still what you want."

AJ tucked his pictures away, tracing his finger over the blurry picture of the little dark-haired woman he intended to possess. Her face was unrecognizable from the distance his photographer had been at, but his memory filled in the details. "Olivia is what I want, and thanks to you she's free of the parasite he infected her with."

Resting hand on his son's shoulder, AJ smiled at him with a touch of warmth. "I'm proud of you Cole, and I want you to know I couldn't have done this without you."

"It's been interesting." Leaving his chair for a drink, Cole poured one for his father as he remember the sheer pleasure found in Olivia's terrified eyes. The ice clinked together in the scotch as he set it in front of AJ. "I could have done without Caitlin's constant chatter, but she has her purposes when she's not speaking." He winked crudely and licked his lips.

AJ just raised an eyebrow. He would agree that Olivia's daughter had inherited her own share of beauty, but she was nothing on the original. "As soon as Olivia has been properly taken care of, I'll make sure the jewels make their way to you. After all, they are your legacy."

Cole finished his drink and checked his hair in the modern mirror on the wall. Caitlin was dragging him on yet another shopping trip and he gritted his teeth as he reminded himself he was nearly done with this backward little town. "There's a sapphire necklace of hers. Something Gregory bought her a few months ago- It's out of India, nearly priceless-"

Nodding absently, AJ was more than happy to part with the bauble. Once Olivia was separated from her husband, he would give her new jewels. He would buy her clothes and take her all over the world. She would have everything and she'd love him for it. All she wanted was to be taken care of. He hadn't been ready when he was young, but now he was seasoned with time. Tempered with their time apart, AJ knew what to do now.

"It's yours of course." He ran his fingers lovingly over the black leather portfolio filled with his glimpses of her. "Have fun with Caitlin."

The door clicked behind him as Cole exited the apartment. Alone at last, AJ took the photographs over to his desk. He removed a pair of scissors from the central drawer and choose an appropriate shot. The scissors bit hungrily into the glossy paper as they clicked their way through the picture. The image of Gregory parted from his wife, the hand holding hers severed from his body as he fell to the desk in effigy. AJ kept the image of Olivia in his hand as he reached into the breast pocket of his suit.

The silver filigreed bracelet wasn't extraordinarily special. It formed a delicate curve, fitted to the wrist of the woman who wore it. The outside was a simple pattern of twining leaves, but he flipped it over. On the inner edge, tapped out with a careful hand was an engraved message. "To Olivia, brightest star in my heavens, all my love, Father."

Shoving the scraps of photograph away, AJ laid the image of Olivia reverently on the cleared area. Framing the blurry image of her face with the bracelet, AJ remembered taking it from her in her sleep on their last night together. He kept mementos from all of his lovers and she had never asked him about the bracelet. Maybe she had been too heartbroken when he had left that morning and spent the following night in the bed of her friend Elaine, but she had never asked him where her bracelet was.

He'd never give it back, never mention he had it in his possession all these years. His index finger stroked the face in the poorly focused picture. "I'll bring you home Olivia..."

* * *

Roger bounced up to get the door and the bags the moment they saw lights in the driveway. Bette caught the door for him and Belle ran out into the yard, tail wagging a mile a minute. 

Caitlin dragged herself reluctantly from the sofa. She'd been enjoying the peace and quiet of having her parents gone. Cole squeezed her hand affectionately, he was so supportive of her.

AJ took a slow sip of his whiskey and remained, like a spider waiting to make his kill. He could picture their return now. Olivia's beautiful face drawn with exhaustion and sorrow. Gregory would be biting back his latest stinging remark. They'd drop their bags and barely contain their contempt for each other long enough to get rid of their guests.

Bette's laughter ruined his imaginings. She jumped away from the door and swept her friend up in a excited embrace. "Oh Livie, you look wonderful. Just wonderful, doesn't she look wonderful?"

Olivia smiled softly, reaching for Gregory's hand as he dropped their suitcase to the floor. "It's good to see you too." Belle nearly knocked her over in her enthusiasm and Olivia bent slightly scratch the fluffy brown and white head that rubbed against her knees. "And you darling. You too."

Gregory snuck a hand around her lower back, sharing a smile with Roger. "Thanks for holding down the fort."

Roger grabbed the collar of the St. Bernard and made room for Olivia to leave the doorway. "Anything for a friend." He grabbed a suitcase and shut the front door. "And you've got a whole party waiting for you. The boy and Phebe wanted to be here for you, but their flight back got delayed. It's snowing in Minnesota now."

"We just missed it." Gregory explained with a smile as he released his wife to head to his daughter. "We missed you so much sweetheart."

Caitlin wrapped her arms around her father's shoulders and breathed in the scent of his aftershave. She had missed him too. Without him around, her life had been so quiet. So empty. Now he was back, and he would never leave her again. Not when her mother had lost the baby.

"Now let's get you out of your coat Livie, and you can tell me all about your trip." Bette helped Olivia out of her long black coat, taking the hanger Roger handed to her and tucking the coat away into the closet. Gregory followed suit with his own, and pulled Caitlin into another hug.

Bette's squeal of delight drew the attention of everyone in the living room. Even AJ got up from his chair as the circle formed around Olivia and Bette. "Oh honey, you're pregnant."

Blushing profusely, Olivia pretended not to know what her friend was talking about. "I was pregnant when I left."

"Not like this." Bette teased as she turned her friend around for everyone's benefit. "You were still wearing your own clothes, this is Gregory's shirt-" She grabbed at the collar of the shirt and punched Gregory playfully in the shoulder. "I knew putting you out to stud was a good idea."

"Bette-" Olivia begged her to stop, mortified as her friend drew Gregory's shirt tight across her belly.

"Oh hush Livie, you're gorgeous and you know it. Just look at you." Gregory saw the glow in her cheeks he'd been worried would never come. Roger picked up the change in Olivia's bearing, the way she stood more confidently meant she was starting to feel safe. Bette's excitement came from the swell of her belly that rounded out the gray oxford shirt of Gregory's. "You're just adorable."

Cole realized immediately that Olivia couldn't have been in a hospital, that kind of smile wasn't breed in the disinfected walls of a medical center. Caitlin bit her lip. Her mother had lost the baby. She had to have lost the baby. It was a trick. Her mother's beaming smile was an act.

Suddenly every fantasy she had of a normal life with her father faded out of her head to be replaced by the screaming of an infant. A parasite who would take her father away. A red, grasping creature that demanded everything, and took everything away from her.

While Roger and Bette fussed about Olivia's sudden explosion into the middle of pregnancy, Gregory whispered in her ear. "Who let that-" He struggle to find the proper words to describe the hated AJ. "Into our home?"

Olivia slapped Bette's elbow as she did a mocking impression of the continued growth of her waistline. She leaned into his neck and whispered back. "His son is dating our daughter."

"That doesn't mean he has to be here, now." His discomfort was amusing and she squeezed his hand sympathetically.

For his part, AJ had barely kept his glass off the floor when he saw the way Bette pulled her shirt taunt across Olivia's swollen belly. She was supposed to have come back free of the parasitic infection that was Gregory's spawn. The problem was obvious, his son had underestimated his old rival. He should have seen this coming. AJ set down his glass and pasted a falsely sincere smile on his face. It was time to address this personally.

Olivia watched as AJ took a step towards her. She could feel Gregory tense at her side. She didn't want to watch them fight. It was nice to see AJ again, of course, but her heart was with Gregory. If he didn't want to talk to him, he shouldn't have too.

Sighing suddenly, she let her body go limp. Roger and Gregory's strong arms caught her before she came anywhere near the floor. Fluttering her eyelids, Olivia clung to Gregory's neck long enough to whisper, "Make the most of it."

His amusement flashed in his eyes and vanished the concern. A false fainting spell was brilliant, a real one would have twisted his stomach into knots of worry. Gregory knelt by the sofa and watched Olivia's act. She really was convincing as she blinked in confusion.

Gregory winked to Roger, who fell into the deception without a question. "Don't move, just lie still for awhile love, it should pass soon."

Bette patted Olivia's shoulder sympathetically. "You poor dear, spending all that time on a plane just to be attacked by your own family!" She clucked her tongue sympathetically. "We'll get out of your hair, let you and Man-O-War here recover from your trip."

She grabbed Cole and Caitlin's hands and tugged them towards the door, giving AJ a stern look. "Come on lovebirds, molto sauve, Livingston and I will give you a ride back to the Lich."

Roger gave Olivia another professional look of concern before getting to his feet to leave with Bette. "I'm sure you're all right. We should just give you some space to breathe. Just take it easy, you've got the number for the flat-?"

Gregory nodded quickly as he sat down on the sofa next to his wife, feigning worry was far easier then real problems. "We do."

"Livie, call me, we'll do lunch!" Bette called over her shoulder as Roger caught up to her.

The door shut before Olivia had a chance to reply. As soon as the cars left their driveway, Gregory burst into a deep belly laugh as he leaned down to kiss her. "You Liv, you're brilliant. Just brilliant."

Olivia sat up and shook out her dark curls over her shoulders as she gave him a little wink of pride. "You wanted AJ gone- he's gone."

Putting one hand on her chest, Gregory pushed her lightly back to the sofa as he leaned down over her face. "Do you know why I love you?"

Kicking off her shoes, Olivia bit her lip playfully. "I've got a few ideas..."


	61. helpless

"This test is important mom." Caitlin insisted again as she dropped her books on the table with a thud. "I don't see how either of you can sleep at night without being sure, absolutely sure, that everything is all right with the baby."

Olivia fidgeted with her necklace, an amber pendant that nestled in the vee of the line of her wrap-around black shirt. Out of all the clothes in her closet, this black shirt and three other blouses still fit without stretching or pinching. The shopping trip she'd been discussing with Gregory had been rescheduled yet again so he could deal with AJ. "It's not that simple darling. There are risks involved with an amnio, risks your father and I still aren't entirely comfortable with."

Caitlin set aside her journalism text with a heavy sigh and balanced her chin on her hand. "Like what mom? What kind of risks? What could outweigh knowing that the baby is healthy?"

Biting her lip, Olivia's hand moved nervously as she tried to explain. "An amniocentesis can cause a miscarriage, it's already later in my pregnancy then the test is usually performed. If we intended to do one, Roger said we should have done it weeks ago-"

Smiling in false sympathy, Caitlin swallowed her reply that miscarriage would be the best thing to possibly happen to this family. "Daddy will be with you won't he? And you trust Roger. I think you're just not being honest with yourself." Getting up from her seat at the table, she walked to stand beside her mother. "Cole's been hunting you down. He poisoned you and daddy had to take you away to that clinic. Aren't you worried about this baby's well-being at all?"

"Of course I'm worried!" Olivia pushed away Caitlin's hand violently. "It's all I think about." Her painfully nervous laugh was nearly a sob. "I'm forty-three years old and I already have two, wonderful children. Maybe it's just greed that makes me want this baby so much- but I do-" Her cool fingers brushed her daughter's cheek. "More then I've ever wanted anything and I know- I know, your father feels the same way."

"That's exactly why you need to have this test!" She took her mother's hand and tried not to shudder as she held it. "Look, I'll drop you off at the hospital on my way to class, you can call daddy and have him meet you. That way you can make sure your baby is healthy. Come on mom, no more arguing. Daddy will be there, and you'll be fine."

The poorly concealed fear in her mother's eyes was oddly disconcerting. Caitlin hadn't felt anything for such a long time that the sensation of pity was entirely foreign to her. "I don't mean to pressure you, but I think this test is important. If something's wrong with the baby you and daddy need to know about it now before-"

Olivia felt something icy form in her chest, but her daughter finished the horrible thought. "Before it's too late. If you find out now you might still be able to do something."

While Olivia thought about surgical procedures and shuddered internally, Caitlin imagined her parents coming home and explaining that something was terribly wrong with the baby. There would be no way to save it, no medical miracle, this time her parents would have to just get rid of it and let their lives go back to normal. The way things were before it came to ruin everything. Before her parents loved it more than her. Before it could take anything else away from her.

Thinking about the past gave Caitlin a genuine smile. "Everything is going to be great mom. You'll see."

* * *

Gregory was packing up his briefcase to go home for the day. He'd been debating with Olivia the necessity of this test Caitlin wanted her to get done of the baby, and he wanted to be there to support her. Though he appreciated Caitlin's involvement with new baby, especially after the rocky start she'd had with the news, she was headstrong, pushing ideas onto her mother that Olivia didn't feel comfortable with.

Telling himself that he had to rush home to be involved with Olivia's decision was more comfortable than admitting to himself that he just wanted to be home as soon as possible. With her at the radio station all morning, he hadn't even seen her since breakfast. Even though Gregory knew she was home with Caitlin, he couldn't shake the feeling that he needed to be there. As he clicked the lock shut on his briefcase, the door to his office opened. "That'll be all for the day Emily, thank you."

A male voice laughed softly and Gregory looked up in surprise. Expecting Ben Evans, or even Roger, he was surprised and immediately angered by the smug grin of AJ Deschanel. "Sorry Gregory, Emily said I could show myself in."

Without Olivia present, he had no reason to temper his dislike. "You do have a knack for turning up uninvited."

AJ shrugged, putting his hands in his pockets as he sized up his rival. Gregory had aged well, time adding a distinction to his features that accentuated his predator nature. Was that what Olivia loved about him? The wild heart trapped within the icy control and the passion that ruled him. Life with Gregory was certainly never dull, though he expected from what he knew of the man that it was also never easy.

Maybe she was just stubborn, dedicating herself to a man who could never show her the kind of affection she needed. "Your secretary was very accommodating." AJ explained with a grin as he helped himself to a chair.

"Emily is young and unfortunately not much of a judge of character." Gregory remained standing, briefcase resting on his desk.

Sensing Gregory's hurry, AJ made no effort to speak his mind, or explain what he was doing in the Liberty Building.

After a few moments of the silent treatment, Gregory conceded. "Do you require something in particular? I'd really like to be getting home to my wife."

"Is poor Olivia still not feeling well?" AJ's concerned tone, hid the sting that came from being reminded that Olivia was, at the moment, still Gregory's wife. Something the other man never missed a chance to remind him.

Gregory reopened his briefcase and shuffled his papers thoughtfully, as if he was looking for something. "Oh she's fine, just a little run down. She is nearly twenty weeks pregnant. Here we are-" He lifted up a photocopy of Olivia's latest ultrasound and handed it to AJ with a proud smile. "That's an old one, from a few weeks back, but we have another appointment on Friday."

AJ looked it over with concealed disgust. It was a waste, the life-giving ability of Olivia's body was squandered on Gregory. The man who could never appreciate her. Never know how lucky he was to have won her so many years ago, that luck was about the change. "Olivia must be thrilled." He moved to hand back the grainy picture of the new Richards baby, but Gregory waved him off.

"Keep it, I have the original right here." He patted his breast pocket with a smile. "We both are. Having a child together- it's an amazing feeling, when you see the face of the baby you share with the woman you love. To know something as wonderful as a child was born out of your love for each other." Gregory's eyes softened with emotion, and he sat on the edge of the desk, smiling gently. "I'm sure you feel the same way about Julian."

AJ tightened his jaw, fantasizing about knocking the smug look of Gregory's face. "Julian's mother abandoned him. I didn't know he existed until she dumped him at my flat in Monte Carlo."

Gregory clucked his tongue in mock sympathy. "That must have been terrible for you." He folded his arms over his chest thoughtfully. "I know I wasn't present when Caitlin and Sean were born and that's always haunted me, but times have changed. This baby is my chance to be at Olivia's side for every moment, every step as our baby comes into the world."

He touched his wedding ring, letting AJ catch the flash of it in the light. "I think it's the best gift she's ever given me." Gregory straightened his jacket and brought himself back from his reverie. "But I'm sure you didn't come here to hear about my family."

"Oh no." AJ replied with a smile as he stood up and extended a hand. "I came to tell you how excited I am to be working with you on the East Chesterfield Medical Center project. It's really going to be a pleasure."

* * *

After the third time Gregory didn't pick up his cellular phone, Olivia gave up and left a message. "Darling, Caitlin's just dropped me off at the hospital, we've decided to do that test we talked about. Roger's going to wait awhile, but I'd really like you to be here when we do this."

Olivia snapped her cell shut and tucked it into her purse. The exam room was empty, and thankfully she hadn't been asked to undress. The front desk knew where she was, Roger had personally vouched for the ultrasound technician he was bringing along to do the test. Everything was going to be fine, but her hands were trembling.

Gregory was in such a hurry to get home to his wife, that he didn't bother to pack up his things. He just grabbed his briefcase and left. Forgetting entirely about his cellular phone, which rang a few minutes after the office door had been locked. It rang again while he was driving home. The third time it rang through, Gregory was opening the door of his empty house.

"Olivia?" He glanced down at his watch, Caitlin would be at her late journalism class by now. After a few moments spent in his lonely living room, he burst into the kitchen in search of her and found a note from Rose, who was at the grocery store and would return inside the hour. Had Caitlin talked her into the test after all?

Cole felt like himself again now that he had dyed his hair back to its normal deep shade of black. It just didn't seem right to come after Olivia personally in the guise of someone else. It had been set up so beautifully too. The amniocentesis was a window of opportunity he just couldn't past up. The test itself was incredibly delicate, the risk associated were high.

He smoothed the front of his suit and practiced his best smile for the nurse at the front desk "Hello there-" Cole paused to read her name tag. "Ashley, I'm afraid I was supposed to meet my wife and I'm running a bit late- her name is Olivia Richards, she's here for an amniocentesis."

The young receptionist blushed under his intense gaze. Having a baby with a man like that would really be something. She typed the name into the computer and waited for the record to pop onto the screen. "Here it is, Olivia Richards is in radiology, second floor, just down the hall. She's been waiting for you."

"That's my wife for you." He assured her with a wink. "Thanks again." Cole started down the hallway and turned around with that same winning smile. "Oh, by the way, would you call up to Dr. Baxter's office and tell him Gregory Richards is here, that way my poor wife won't have to wait too long to get started."

* * *

Roger had the habit of humming to himself while he worked. It gave Olivia something to concentrate on while she tried to ignore the dangerous looking needle they were carefully sticking into her stomach. Thanks to the anesthetic, she didn't feel a thing, just an odd feeling of pressure as they drew the fluid out of her womb.

"When did Gregory say he'd get here?" She asked softly as she tried to relax her hands.

"Ashley at the front desk called about a few minutes ago love, he should be right up." Roger set the needle down on a sterile tray and started the pressure bandage, just to the right of her navel. "Missed all the fun too." He admired his work for a moment and pulled down her shirt over the bandage. "This is going to be sore for awhile, and you have to stay here and hold still for at least half an hour."

"Okay." Olivia nodded slightly as she reached down tentatively to touch the bandage. "Everything went all right?"

"Stellar love, just stellar." Roger nodded to his technician as she left with the needle and the precious amniotic fluid. "I'm going to run down to radiology and get some of these new ultrasounds developed for you and your darling to stick up on the fridge."

The corner of her mouth twitched in amusement when she pictured Gregory's briefcase and the assortment of ultrasound photos he kept there. "He'll like that."

"Be right back, just stay put. I'm sure Gregory will be here in a moment." The door to the exam room clicked shut behind Roger and Olivia closed her eyes. The exam room was quiet, and her mind wandered. Sean's last letter mentioned him making it home for a long weekend in November. Caitlin was talking about an anniversary party and it would be wonderful to have her whole family together. If only for a weekend.

* * *

Cole watched as Roger's back disappeared down the hallway. As soon as he was around the corner, he walked confidently down to the radiology department, ducked in, and smiled to the attendant at the front desk. Olivia was in the back corner, in one of the conveniently sound dampened ultrasound rooms. He turned the knob slowly, not wanting to disturb her until it was too late for anyone to hear her.

Olivia's eyes were closed, her hands folded neatly over the gently swell of her belly. Her hair curled out from under her head on the paper-covered pillow. Without even making her open her eyes, Cole turned and locked the door. He even took the additional precaution of taking the chair from the corner and propping it under the knob.

Then he advanced on his victim, resting his hand over her smaller ones. Olivia smiled up at him without opening her eyes. Cole leaned down to kiss her forehead, brushing his lips against her sweet smelling skin. Today her perfume was lavender, and the delicate scent matched the feel of her hands.

"Darling, I was wondering when you'd get here." Her smile parted her full lips, making her even more beautiful. She fluttered her eyes open, ready to look into Gregory's warm smile.

Instead of her husband's soft brown, she looked into the bottomless black eyes of Cole St. John. If she had been able to draw enough breath past the lump in her throat, she would have screamed.

"I'm sorry 'darling' I came as soon as I could."

* * *

Eileen Garrison snatched Aaron, her toddler son, away from the elevator buttons with a heavy sigh of resignation. His two sisters, Nora, who was nearly three, and Amanda, the eldest at four, played patty-cake in their chairs as she returned to her seat in the waiting room. Dennis was supposed to have the girls today, so she could take Aaron to his check-up in peace, but the hospital construction was running behind. Turning his afternoon off into an afternoon at the site that would drag long into the evening.

Digging into her diaper bag for Aaron's crackers, Eileen muttered a curse on Gregory Richards and the whole board. This hospital project was the biggest thing to come to Sunset Beach in years, and it seemed the whole town was involved. For Dennis' contracting firm it meant the switch from building condos part-time to twelve hours days at the future Medical Center. He was there now because Gregory's wife, the illustrious Olivia, was touring the site tomorrow morning, and everything- everything had to be perfect for her arrival.

"If I hear 'Olivia' one more time today I'll just scream..." She whispered through clenched teeth to Aaron as she handed him another cracker. Nora brought her a book to read, and as they discussed the pictures of brightly colored Suessian creatures, poor Eileen missed Amanda jump from her chair and wander down the hallway of the second floor.

Amanda's head of red-gold curls bobbed as she wandered through the clean white halls of the hospital. In her mind it was a palace, a mysterious land of wizards and goblins. Goblins explained the funny smell the hospital had to it, and the wizards were the men and women in white coats who ran the place. As she wandered she was careful not to get captured by one of the wizards, they'd just drag her back to her mother and she'd have to sit and be good. Nothing was a greater waste of time than sitting and being good.

She was deep in the maze of closed doors and short hallways when she found the purse. It was black leather, the kind of really nice purse her grandma talked of owning someday. Thinking it was a treasure of the maze, she picked it up, throwing the heavy bag over her shoulder. The snap-clasp opened without warning and a few things fell out. Amanda's quick brown eyes were immediately drawn to the golden lipstick. It was brilliantly colored, engraved with a winding pattern of leaves and flowers.

Lifting it reverently with a chubby hand, she settled down against the wall next to the door to go through the rest of the purse. Maybe it was all a present after all. Perhaps the whole thing was a present! As her dimples burst out of her face in glee, she dumped out the rest of the contents to go through her new toys.

* * *

"Now you are in a bit of a situation, aren't you Olivia?" Cole's hand clamped down over her mouth, tightening down like an iron gag. He barely left her room to breathe from her nose. "And that great barbarian assistant, your doctor, or even your darling husband aren't here to save you."

His breath was hot on her cheek as he leaned down. The smell of his aftershave acrid in her terror. "Whatever are you going to do? No one ever lets you alone anymore. Everyone's been trying to prevent us from spending any time together."

As he stood back up, he released her mouth, fingers roughly squeezing her lips. "You know screaming is a waste of time. These rooms are all dampened for privacy. Rich women like you don't like to have their conditions become public knowledge, funny how that desperate need to be discreet has trapped you now."

He pushed her aside, forcing her head back into the examination table. Olivia started to move towards escape, her adrenaline roaring in her ears. She moved barely an inch when a sick realization shocked her into absolute stillness. She couldn't move. The terrified sweat of her hand made her blouse stick to her palm as she closed her fingers over the bandage with frigid despair. Roger said she needed to hold still at least half an hour. In the eternity Cole had been here, nearly no time had passed. She couldn't risk losing the baby. No matter what Cole did to her, she wouldn't be the one who hurt her baby.

Cole continued to lay out his thoughts in an gloating tone as he set out his tools on the counter in the back of the room. "Your first instinct of course, was to scream for help. We've discussed how that would a waste of your precious breath."

He pointed to the slowly ticking clock on the wall. "You and I both know you aren't going to risk your darling little baby by trying to fight me. You might have been tempted to make a grab for your cellular phone and call for help, praying they'd somehow get to you in time."

Olivia dropped her hand towards the floor, desperation feeling to see if her purse was still where she had left it. It was gone.

His laughter echoed deep in the tiny room. "It's in the hallway. Not too far away, just a few seconds from your grasp. Provided you could move." He turned to face her, eyes glittering in victory. "I've been reading up on prenatal procedures. Every motion of your body puts that little lump of flesh you're so attached too at risk. I'd even bet that you're wishing, desperately, that you'd decided against the whole thing. No bit of genetic knowledge could possibly be worth your helplessness."

He lifted something out of a bundled black cloth that she couldn't see around his body. Cole set it on the floor as he removed his suit coat and hung it over the back of a chair. Pulling that chair to her side, he sat down with a smile of icy gentleness. "So tell me Olivia, now that we finally have this lovely chance to talk, how does it feel to be completely helpless?"

Cole ran a hand through his hair and his teeth flashed in the same twisted smile. "Helpless and alone with the man who's been trying to kill you." He leaned close to her in a grotesque mockery of intimacy. "Have you been dreaming of me?" Cole took a strand of her hair in between his lips. "I can't close my eyes without thinking of what we shared in your bedroom. The way your eyes snapped open when you felt my hands on your throat-"

He sat back in his chair, letting his hands rest quietly in his lap. "But you shouldn't let me dominate the conversation- please, feel free to jump right in."

* * *

"We're sorry, the cellular customer you are trying to reach is not responding. Please check the number and try again." Gregory slammed the phone down on the automated recording. It wasn't like Olivia to be gone with her phone shut off. She knew how much that worried him.

He dialed Casey with a touch of exasperation. Perhaps she'd just forgotten to turn it on. Sometimes he wondered where her mind got too when he wasn't around to keep her on track. "Casey Mitchum-" The younger man began cheerfully right after the first ring.

"Is Olivia with you?" Gregory demanded immediately. "She's got her cell off again, would you let me talk to her?"

"Would if I could," Casey replied with a shrug. "I haven't seen her since we went to the radio station this morning. Dropped her off at home for lunch with Caitlin around 12:30. Why don't you try the house?"

Gregory sighed heavily in frustration and snapped, "I'm at the house now and Olivia's nowhere to be found!" Reigning in his anger, he softened his voice. "If you see her, or hear anything from her, just let her know I'm looking for her."

"Of course." Casey answered quickly. Olivia's occasional complaints about Gregory's over-protective nature made so much more sense the more he talked to the man. "I hope you get a hold of her-"

Gregory barely kept himself from hanging up while Casey was speaking. "So do I." He forced himself to say politely before he clicked the phone off.

Bette's cell was the next number on his mental list. Maybe the eccentric blonde had dragged her out for the first stint of that long-overdue shopping trip. Gregory remembered the discussion they'd had that morning, when she got dressed for work and realized she only had four blouses that fit, and smiled gently in spite of his concern. Watching her body grow and change was a living reminder of the reality of their baby, something in which he daily found more pleasure.

Gregory paced into his study anxiously as she picked up. "Queen of the Night speaking, how may I brighten your day?"

"You can do so considerably if you've seen my wife." Gregory replied quickly with a veil of sarcasm drawn barely over his concern.

Bette's apologetic cluck of her tongue ran his concern up another notch. "No Greggie, I haven't seen her since yesterday. What have you done now?"

"I haven't done anything-" He snapped viciously, but he couldn't sustain the feeling. This time his anger wasn't there to help him and he sighed in defeat. "Bette, I just want to find her."

"She's not in trouble is she?" Bette wondered, immediately becoming serious as she sensed his concern. He could hear her stop moving around her office. "Doesn't muscles know where she is? I thought those two were inseparable."

Gregory tapped his hand anxiously on his desk as he looked up the number of the radio station. It was a long shot, but maybe they'd have some idea. Maybe Olivia had just forgotten something. "Casey dropped her at home for lunch with Caitlin, but that was nearly two hours ago-"

"Honey, if I hear anything, I'll make sure you're the first to know, you know that." Bette interrupted with soft reassurance as she noted that Caitlin was the last one to see her mother. That required a little investigating. "I hope you find her soon."

Too concerned to notice that Bette had ended the call before he did, Gregory tried the radio station. When that came up useless, he called Liberty, but the front desk hadn't seen Olivia since this morning. She had dropped off the face of the earth.

The line to Roger's office was busy. Gregory forced himself to hang up the phone and wait. The picture of him together with Olivia mocked him from a corner of his desk. Asking himself where she could have possibly gotten too, he picked it up thoughtfully. Her smile seemed forced sometimes when he looked at that picture. They weren't getting along when Caitlin took it for her photography class, but she had wanted the picture of them together.

Now Olivia's smile seemed to be pleading with him to find her. To keep her safe from those who meant her harm as he had promised to do.

The ringing of his phone nearly stopped his heart as he attacked the receiver- "Olivia where are you!"


	62. still

Amanda had taken everything out of her new bag and examined it before putting it back. There were more beautiful things, sunglasses that made the world look purple, a few very nice pens, keys on a ring that jangled when she shook them. She ate one of the mints from the neat little metal box, and wondered what pills in the bottle she couldn't open were. Her mother had pills in her purse too, she recognized the orange bottle. She also knew not to play with pills, so she was quick to tuck those away next to the checkbook with a name on it in neat golden letters that she couldn't read.

Her mommy would be able to tell her of course, but it took her a moment to get over her disappointment that the purse wasn't for her after all. Someone had lost it. Getting to her feet, Amanda almost forgot the phone at her feet. Her daddy had a cell phone. She'd seem him use it before. She could call him at work on it. She missed him when he was gone all day.

Tucking the phone into her largest dress pocket, Amanda hurried back to her mother with the checkbook in hand. It was obviously just the checkbook that was misplaced. Everything else in the purse was for her and she couldn't even be sure it wasn't hers until her mother read the words for her. To be on the safe side, she stuffed her new purse under a chair in the hallway, that way her mother didn't have to know about it just yet.

Thinking about her mommy's bad mood, Amanda reached into the pocket of her dress and pulled out the phone. Maybe mommy would be happy if she knew the new phone could be used to call daddy. She knew from watching her daddy that she had to flip it open, and push the button near the top. Obediently the phone turned on with a beep and the keypad lit up, Amanda grinned gleefully and pushed some more buttons, just like she had seen her father do.

As the phone flashed a meaningless name, it started to dial. She held it to her ear with two hands, careful to listen for her father's voice after the ringing stopped.

"Olivia where are you!" An angry voice demanded immediately.

Amanda nearly dropped the phone. This wasn't her father. "Who's 'Livia? Where's my daddy?"

The last voice Gregory had ever expected to hear on Olivia's cell was that of a little girl. He took a deep breath to demand she hand the phone to Olivia immediately, but his gut said something was wrong. Olivia wouldn't just let her phone be used as a plaything. She knew better then that.

Still, it took all of his self-control to keep his voice soft. "Olivia is my wife." He began calmly. "My name is Gregory. What's your name?"

"Amanda-" She chirped back brightly. "Can I please talk to my daddy now?"

He didn't know a child named Amanda. He ran through all the congratulatory notes he had written for babies at his office and couldn't think of one named Amanda. "Who's your daddy?"

Amanda giggled slightly, that was a silly question. "He's really tall."

Gregory restrained the urge to strangle the child. She didn't know how important this was and was obviously rather young. "I'm sure he is." He swallowed his frustration and tried a different tactic. "Where are you Amanda?"

"At the hospital." That was an easy question and her smile grew wider. "South Bay Hospital." Her mother had read that on the sign as they walked in. Amanda liked to think that remembering what signs said was the first step on the pathway to reading.

She was so engrossed in her conversation that she ignored her sister. Nora walked up to her and took the checkbook Amanda had dropped at her feet when the phone rang. Nora looked it for a moment or two before deciding it was boring. She left in on the block table as Aaron toddled over. He found the checkbook most interesting, and did the most logical thing he could think of to do to it, stuck it in his mouth. The expensive calfskin had a texture he liked and an earthy flavor.

Gregory grabbed his car keys and ran to the door, holding the phone pressed to his ear. "Why are you at the hospital Amanda?"

"Because my brother needs a check-up." She replied seriously as she climbed up into a chair next to her mother's things. She could see her mother talking to a lady at the desk in the front of the room. Maybe Gregory, whoever he was, would let her talk to her daddy by the time her mother got back.

Eileen turned in her paperwork and gave the receptionist a tired smile. A glance back to her kids put Nora at the blocks and Aaron sitting happily beside her. He was chewing on something, but that wasn't detrimental. Amanda was back in her seat, playing telephone with something. At least they weren't running all over the room.

Aaron's doctor was running a bit behind and the demonic three would have to remain at the hospital a little bit longer. Eileen grabbed up Aaron and pulled whatever it was out of his mouth with a sigh. "I thought your puppy Fallon was bad when he ate my shoes, but you like to chew everything don't you pumpkin?"

"And you aren't even a canine." The slim, sticky leather was a checkbook, an expensive checkbook. The kind that had a name embossed on the front with gold leaf. Eileen winced and looked around for the irate owner as she balanced Aaron on her hip. No one came immediately running to chastise her so she took the time to read the name.

"Olivia Richards?" She read aloud and repeated to herself, completely dumbstruck. "Goddamn Olivia-queen-of-Sunset-Beach-Richards?" Sitting down quickly, she bounced her red-headed son on her knee. "Pumpkin, I think you just got mommy in a lot of trouble."

Amanda tugged at her arm. "Mommy, what floor are we on?"

Eileen turned the checkbook over in her hands without looking at her daughter. "Second floor baby, number two." She checked the address written beneath Olivia's name on the first check. One Ocean Avenue, possibly the most prestigious house in Sunset Beach. Not the kind of house you could walk up to and ring the bell. Maybe she'd just mail it, or drop it off at the hospital lost and found.

Amanda continued to talk to herself, explaining that she was on the second floor, in the waiting room with the palm trees near the windows. Eileen set Aaron down to play with Nora and the blocks. She looked down at her watch, Aaron's pediatrician was running half an hour behind, and since she had tried to be thoughtful and come early, she still had quite a wait. She reached over to rub her daughter's halo of curls. "Who are you talking to baby?"

Looking at her mother with a huge smile, Amanda handed over the phone. "He just asked to talk to you. His name is Gregory- he seems pretty nice."

* * *

"All right Olivia, if you won't talk to me, we'll play a new game." Cole grabbed her shoulders and pulled her violently up to a sitting position.

"Get up." His voice cut into her ears, grating against her sense of helplessness.

Olivia shook her head slowly, careful to protect the bandage on her stomach. It didn't matter what he did to her, she wasn't going to put the baby in danger. "I won't."

His hand flashed out, scalpel locked in his fingers. Incredibly sharp, it cut into her throat, stinging as she gasped.

"Get up or I'll kill you." He repeated.

Lowering her feet over the edge slowly, Olivia climbed down from the examination table. As a stray tear of horror crept down her face, she tried not to think about the danger to the baby. After running from Cole for months, she didn't know what he wanted. She didn't know how he had found her and now her throat tightened as the memory of his hands around it flooded back to her.

Cole reached up to brush it away, smiling cruelly as he licked it off the tip of his finger. "That's a good girl. Now turn around."

Olivia closed her eyes as she turned around. The mark on her throat oozed blood that ran hot down the skin of her neck. She folded her hands over her belly, feebly protecting the baby as well as as she could.

Leaning down, Cole picked up his riding crop and snapped it once again his hand. The sound cracked through the room and Olivia bit back a sob. He felt the power rush through him from the leather in his hand. Cole snapped it again, letting it hiss through the air just off the skin of her back. "The Deschanel jewels are my legacy, something I rightly deserve."

"But you and your grasping husband had to be stubborn about it." The crop sang through the air before impacting with her back. It cut through her blouse and sank into her skin. Shooting through her nerves, the pain left an angry line of fire across her back. Olivia's cry of pain echoed the crack of the whip.

Her agony sent a thrill of power up his spine. He ran his hand along the slice in her blouse, feeling the heat the wound through his fingers. "Did that hurt?"

Olivia's silence brought the scalpel back to her throat, his fingers shaking with rage. "I asked you if it hurt."

The razors edge of the scalpel bit her skin again and Olivia nodded. He dug the scalpel in, drawing another line of blood. "Answer me!"

"Yes!" The word tumbled from her lips as she shuddered away from his touch. Cole grabbed her face and roughly turned it in towards him, boring into her eyes with his icy gaze.

"Then scream-" He slapped her face away and struck her twice more against her back with the riding crop. He traced each welt with his hand, drawing his pleasure from the heat of her abused skin.

Olivia brought her hand to her face and clamped it over her mouth. If Cole wanted her to scream, it was the last thing she was going to do. She straightened her back, and held herself rigid in preparation for his next attack. She had to hold still. The baby depended on her being still.

Bringing the crop back again, Cole smiled as he brought it down across her shoulders. Eventually she'd scream. She'd have to scream when the pain overwhelmed her and as soon as she did, she was his.

* * *

Eileen's flush of embarrassment went unnoticed by her children. Amanda swung her feet off of the edge of her chair as she handed the phone over. As her mother took it, she stood and walked away to the window. Disappointed, Amanda decided to go back to the purse she had hidden on the other side of the room. There were beautiful things in there to play with.

Gregory Richards was the name on the bottom of her husband's paychecks and now he was on the other end of the phone. The irate voice on the end of the phone. "With whom am I speaking?"

Eileen rubbed the back of her neck nervously. "I'm Eileen Garrison, my little girl, Amanda, she found this phone somewhere. I'm so sorry- if you tell me where to bring it I'll make sure you'll get it back."

"Mrs. Garrison, I don't care about the phone." Gregory assured her with great impatience. "It belongs to my wife, and she's in danger. I can't tell you how important it is that I find her."

Trying not to bristle at his tone, Eileen looked over at her little girl, kneeling on the floor by a chair. "I don't know how she got it, Amanda was talking on it while I was at the desk- I try, but I can't watch her all the time-"

"It's all right Mrs. Garrison." Gregory cut her off with force patience. "I just want to know where she got it from. Tell me where you are and I'll meet you. Your daughter said the second floor of South Bay General?"

"Yes, pediatrics." Dennis was never going to believe any of this. "Wait-" But the phone was dead and Gregory Richards was on his way. Eileen grabbed her son's hands away from her leg and steered him to the blocks.

"You stay with Nora pumpkin. I'm going to talk to Manda for a little bit." She kissed her younger daughter's red-gold head of curls. "And you play nice with Aaron."

Amanda ran over to her with the shiny black purse in her hands and a concerned smile on her face. "Here you are mommy. This belongs to the missing lady, the one the nice man on the phone is looking for."

Eileen scooped up both the purse and her daughter then she sat down with them both in her lap. "Where did you find this?"

"In the hallway-" Amanda pointed off to the left with one chubby finger. "I found it on the floor. I thought it was lost."

"It's not lost sweetie, but the lady who owns it is-"

Amanda shook her head with great certainty. "But I didn't see a lady, mommy- it was just in the hall, on the floor."

Eileen looked down into her daughter's big brown eyes and sighed in exhaustion. "You didn't see anyone at all?"

Turning up her empty hands to the ceiling, Amanda shook her head again. "Nope. Nobody. Sorry mommy."

Eileen stroked back the baby curls and watched her younger kids make stacks of blocks to knock down with shrieks of laughter. "It's okay honey. The man on the phone, Gregory Richards, is coming here, and he's going to ask you some questions. He might get angry but I want you to remember he's not mad at you. He's just worried about his wife."

Amanda's baby chin was square with determination. "Is she a mommy too?"

It took her a moment to remember, she was sure she'd seen something about the Richards' children at some point. "Yes baby, I think she is."

"Why's she lost?"

Eileen raised an eyebrow and straightened her daughter's pink dress. "I don't know, but she needs to be found, doesn't she?"

Amanda nodded seriously, keeping her eyes on her mother's face. "Being lost is bad."

* * *

Gregory Richards hurried into the hospital waiting room and glanced through it as he caught his breath. A woman in her thirties with a tired expression sat amid a trio of small children. One of them was balanced on her lap, along with a black leather purse that was all too familiar. He rushed over to her and had to force himself to be polite. "Mrs. Garrison? I just spoke to you on the phone."

Eileen released Amanda to play with her siblings and their block towers. She stood up slowly and handed Gregory the purse. "I'm afraid my son chewed on the corner of her checkbook, Dennis and I will replace it if you just tell us what it cost-"

Waving an irritable hand shut her up. "I don't care about that, it'll be fine. I just want to find my wife."

Amanda slipped away as the grown-ups talked. She could find the lost lady and make Gregory not be upset anymore. She hated it when people were upset and she wanted to make it better. She retraced her steps and found the closed door the purse had been next too. Reaching up, she grabbed the knob with both hands and turned it as hard as she could. As it clicked open, she shoved it inward until it hit against something. Puzzled, she backed up and tried again. The something was gone and she was able to push right in.

* * *

Cole was getting frustrated with her, and the angrier he got, the more viciously he drew back his hand to strike her. The last time the leather of the riding crop broke her skin, drawing a fresh jab of pain from the numb haze that was her back. Her lip was bleeding slightly, the wound from her teeth filled her mouth with a metallic taste.

But she hadn't screamed. Cole's rage had him teetering on the brink of sanity, but she hadn't screamed. Olivia knew that no matter what he did, as long as she could hold out, she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction. It was driving him mad. It was the only power she had over him and she would be dammed before she let it go.

Trembling with fury, Cole dropped it to the floor and shuffled his bundle of tools. He choose a knife with a long wicked edge. It glinted in the light behind Olivia's head, chilling her heart with the spot of light from the reflection in the blade. For a single, horrible moment, she wondered if this was how she was going to die- trapped in a hospital room.

She couldn't fight him. Olivia didn't have the physical strength to fight him and god only knew what he would do to her if she tried. She didn't dare turn around, even when the door open and banged against the chair. She heard Cole turn, and the shuffling as he moved the chair in front of it. Her heart leapt and in the blissful time it took to turn around, she believed she was saved.

Cole was laughing. The knife was behind his back and she could see the shape of the fluorescent light in the ceiling reflected in the wicked edge of the blade. There wasn't enough time to be afraid. Instead of Gregory- instead of Roger or even a lost nursing student, the figure in the door was an angel.

A little girl with a halo of red-gold curls and a trusting smile on her pink lips. Cole's attention was entirely on the girl. Olivia watched his fingers twitch on the handle of the cruel knife, and she knew what he was planning. In her mind she saw the knife whip out to kill the child. She heard the spurt of blood, the sick sound of air hissing through a torn throat-

The light from the hallway illuminated the curls on the little one, made her a silhouette surrounded by light. The dark shape of Cole was starting to attack, his arm was moving. He was ready to strike-

Olivia's hands closed around one of Cole's weapons- a policeman's club, and her arms brought it back and down on his head as hard as she could. The crack of coated metal against his skull was sickly satisfying. He went down, the knife clattering out of his fingers. The little girl's eyes were so wide that the whites went on forever.

Amanda watched as the lady dropped the weapon next to the strange man with the evil eyes. The lady had been crying, tears were still gleaming on her face as she stepped over the man who had fallen down. The man with the knife lay still. She opened her mouth to say something, but the lady scooped her up and held her against her chest. The lady, the one who was lost, smelled like flowers and her necklace bounced against Amanda's cheek as they ran. The lady didn't say anything to her or stop to see if the bad man was following them. They just ran.

* * *

"She was just here!" Eileen realized with exasperation. It was bad enough that Amanda was missing, but now Gregory Richards was going to see that she couldn't control her children. "I don't know where she could have gotten too."

"Did she know where Olivia was?" Gregory demanded quickly, ignoring the woman's flushed cheeks. "Did she see her?"

Shaking her head, Eileen grabbed up her youngest and shooed Nora close to her legs. "No, I don't think so. She just found your wife's purse in the hallway."

"In the hallway?" Gregory repeated as he turned the idea over in his mind. A chair would have made sense if his wife was just being absent-minded, but the hallway set off the alarm that squeezed his chest tight. Dashing over to the receptionist's desk, he reached across to hang up the call she was on.

"Call the police. Tell them Cole St. John is in this hospital-" The receptionist didn't move and he grabbed her hand to dial. "I need a unit here, now!"

His panicked fury only made the poor woman more nervous, and Gregory raised a hand as if he was going to hit her. "This is a matter of life and death." His voice was a metallic growl. "Make the call."

She nodded dumbly as she punched in nine-one-one. Gregory turned away from her and back to poor harried Eileen Garrison. "Which hallway?"

"Why do we need the police?" Eileen demanded of him instead of answering the question. "What's going on?" Then the significance of the ice in his eyes hit her like a cement wall. "My God-"

Gregory ignored her, he turned to another woman reading a magazine and pretending not to listen to their conversation. "Watch these children." He lifted Aaron out of Eileen's arms and set the little boy at the stranger's feet. "When the Police come tell them Cole St. John- repeat that name-"

"Cole St. John-"

"Is here. The police will know who he is." Gregory grabbed Eileen's hand and pulled her to the junction of the two hallways. "Which way?"

Her hand flew up to point to the left, just as Amanda had. "Who is Cole?" Gregory started to jog down the hallway and Eileen broke into a run to keep up. "Dammit, who is he!"

Gregory couldn't answer her aloud. His heart screamed that Cole was dead. It didn't matter how long he searched, where he looked, what he had to do- Cole was dead. Cole was going to regret the moment his father had even looked at his mother.

And then he saw her- Her hair flew out behind her head and revealed the twin trails of blood on her neck. Olivia ran around that corner with a child in her arms. She stumbled, loosing her footing as adrenaline gave out.

"Olivia!" His voice was life itself. Looking up gave her his eyes, the sheer terror in his face echoed the panicked beating of her heart.

She went down, her knees finally giving out as he closed the distance between them. He tore the little girl out of her arms and handed her to the strange woman at his side. Olivia felt her knee strike the hard tile of the floor and the pain shocked her back to reality. Reality where her back sang in agony and she had just fled from the man who was trying to kill her. The man who would have killed her.

Gregory's hands caught her face. He looked past the tears on her cheeks, the blood he'd smudged up on his hands, and all he saw was that she was all right. Behind the terror she was still there. Beneath the terror, that spark insisted she had won.

Olivia's first breath in his arms turned into a sob, and after that there was no stopping the torrent of repressed fear. Everything poured out of her in a storm of emotion. She couldn't see the tears on her husband's face because her own were too intense. His words of comfort went unheard, and the only reason she knew his arms were still around her was because the fabric of his jacket ripped at the torn skin of her back.

She could only point when the police arrived. Gregory pushed them away, letting no one touch her. He slapped away Ricardo Torres and snapped something about finding Cole. It was Roger that finally managed to get them off the floor. His first concern was the bandage on her stomach.

Miraculously it was intact, and unblemished by any of the bleeding that would signify real danger to the baby. The wounds on her back were superficial, and he could safely let Gregory wrap his jacket around her. They could be treated later, when Gregory could release his death grip on her for more then a few moments. If that ever happened again.


	63. oaths

"Of course you can't find anything! You haven't been able to find anything all this time- Cole St. John waltzes into a hospital, convinces the nurses he's me and nearly kills my wife!" Gregory didn't care that a crowd was forming, even television cameras would have done little to dissuade him. "But he still gets away? Maybe Olivia should have killed him while she had the chance."

Olivia's stifled gasp as Roger peeled the shredded fabric of her shirt from the wounds in her back stopped Gregory's ranting. While Gregory was listening, Paula tried to rescue the situation. "We have forensic evidence, eyewitnesses who can pick him out of a line-up. Ricardo's just started the biggest manhunt in Sunset Beach history, we're going to find him."

Though he lowered his hand, letting Olivia squeeze her pain into his palm, Gregory's eyes blazed at Paula. "See that you do." Turning away was his dismissal of her and Paula left the examination room.

Ricardo was waiting for her, arms folded thoughtfully over her chest. "Laura Fitzgerald is here."

Paula's mouth opened slightly in surprise and Ricardo inclined his head towards the group at the end of the hall. The petite white-haired figure of the District Attorney was flanked by two neatly dressed bodyguards, and the recognizable figure of Judge Carl Henley. She looked back at Ricardo, waiting for his clarification.

"She's resigning her position, as soon as Gregory Richards takes the oath of office, he's going to be District Attorney. Those two with her are bodyguards from the Justice Department, threatening the immediate family of federal servants isn't taken lightly." He crossed the hall and ducked under the bight yellow tape of the crime scene.

"But Gregory can't expect to prosecute St. John, even if we catch him, he's much too involved in the case." Paula argued softly as they watched the forensics team finished up with the fingerprints.

As he looked down at the brown spots of blood Cole had left on the floor, Ricardo smiled grimly. "He knows that. Mrs. Fitzgerald knows that. This is about making Cole's actions a federal crime, not about revenge."

Both of them watched the entourage troop past the doorway. Laura Fitzgerald nodded to them serenely as she passed. "I'm going to need witnesses. If you'll be so kind detectives, I'd be much obliged."

"There you are, didn't even need any stitches." Roger stripped off his gloves and dropped them into the trash. "We'll have you back in backless gowns in no time."

Gregory thanked him with a quick glance over Olivia's shoulder before he returned his eyes to her face. "Everything is all right now."

Though she made the attempt to stop the trembling of her shoulders, Olivia couldn't stop the cascade of tears down her face. The horror of what had happened to her had sunk into her mind. Everything she'd pushed to the back of her mind in that room wanted to be dealt with now. She knew Gregory was concerned. He was driving himself mad with guilt and he wasn't the one who had risked their baby's life for a stranger.

That was her. It was her choice to attack Cole, to risk everything for that helpless child. Gregory was careful to keep his hands off the welts on her back. When he let her hide her sobbing in his chest, his hands stayed on her shoulders.

"I could have killed our baby." She choked out into his shirt.

His strong hand rubbed her head. "You didn't."

"I didn't think. I just hit him, what if he had gotten up?" Olivia started to shake again. Death had been far too close. "Gregory- Gregory he could have murdered us both."

This was why Cole was going to die. He'd forfeited his right to life each time he'd touched her back, every moment he lorded his power over her. Every tear, every shaking breath, every scream she didn't let him hear- all of it was waiting to be avenged.

Gregory lifted her chin, forcing her to look right into his eyes. "But you won. You beat him, you kept yourself safe, you saved our baby and you saved that little girl. You saved three lives. Liv, you're a hero."

Olivia caught his hand with both of hers and held it to her face. "I'm not a hero."

His reply was so soft that she nearly didn't hear it. "You've always been mine Olivia." His free hand brushed across her cheek, collecting tears as it went. He raised his voice above a whisper after he was sure she had heard his admission. "And I get to take you home, healthy and pregnant with our child. I don't think I can ask for anything more than that."

Laura Fitzgerald cleared her throat in the doorway. "What about public office?" Shutting the door behind her, she gave Olivia an apologetic nod. "I'm sorry to disturb you, but I need to steal your husband for a bit."

Gregory's eyebrows narrowed dangerously, but Laura's quiet expression calmed him. "I'm discharging my office, Judge Henley's here for the details."

"Now?" He kept his hands in Olivia's, mind racing to put together the pieces of Laura's thoughts.

"Right now." Laura waved a hand to Olivia. "With your permission of course."

Olivia took Gregory's handkerchief, suddenly aware of how awful she must look. Not trusting her voice, she nodded weakly. Gregory's hand slipped beneath her hair to hold her neck, he wasn't letting go. "It's for the best sweetheart."

She started to whisper and he leaned closer to hear her. "Why right now?"

"Under the statues of the state of California Cole St. John's attack on you becomes a Federal crime once Gregory's sworn in." Laura pointed to the guards outside the doorway. "That allows the Justice department to protect you."

Olivia looked up at her husband, and Gregory forced a small smile. "It's complicated, but it's a good idea Liv."

Laura opened the door and ushered Judge Henley and the two detectives inside. "Let's get this done."

At Laura's request the Judge held out his bible and cleared his throat. "Do you, Laura Ethel Fitzgerald discharge the office of District Attorney and all the rights and privileges thereof?"

Her hand was tiny on the back of the bible. "I, Laura Ethel Fitzgerald, do solemnly and without prejudice, discharge the office of District Attorney to my successor." She twitched her fingers as she removed her hand, as if she had felt the burden leave her.

Judge Henley turned to Gregory, waiting for him to release his grip on his wife. "Please raise your right hand and repeat after me. I-"

Gregory kissed her forehead as he removed his hand from the back of her neck. "I, Gregory Alan Richards, do solemnly affirm that I will support the constitution and laws of the United States-"

* * *

_He was young, his hands were shaking as the minister droned on behind him. All that mattered was Olivia standing across from him. Remarkably, her hands were steady as she handed her bouquet to Bette. She extended her left hand towards him, holding steady as he fumbled with the ring._

_Infinitely gentle, Olivia smiled and it lit up her face behind the veil. Trusting him with her hand and everything that went with it, she kept that smile even with the tear escaped from her eye. She loved him, she would live and die for him and she knew he would for her. No one had ever looked at him that way before. No one had known his soul and loved it. No one but her. Her life, and their life together was in his hands as he slipped the ring on her finger._

_

* * *

_  
"-And the constitution and laws of this state-"

* * *

_Kneeling in a dark room, he felt the hand of the Don on his head. Lucio Ricciardi was the grandfather he had never known. Ricciardi was his true name and the men around him were his family. They would do what his father would not. Teach him respect by example instead of a fist._

_Another stab of hatred for the beast who had conceived him ran through his heart as his grandfather made the mark of blessing on his forehead with oil. His grandfather was happy to take him into the fold, pleased to send him to Law School. He had cousins to talk with, a grandmother reminisce about love with, and he only had it now because of his father._

_It wasn't enough for his father to destroy his mother's confidence and rip his sense of self away year after year. Nicholas had taken tried to take away Gregory's past. Tried to erase his history. When Gregory stood to kiss the ruby ring on his grandfather's hand, he took that history back. He swore to be a part of his family. To live and die for his family, to be what his father wasn't.

* * *

_

"-And that I will faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all the duties incumbent on me-"

* * *

_He lay awake in bed next to her, Olivia curled into him with the innocence of a child. She didn't know the promise he'd just made. The cut on his finger throbbed to remind him of the blood he had given. Gregory wondered what he'd say to his son when the boy was old enough to ask about the family. He had no regrets, the family would take care of his son. His son would have a chance to be something extraordinary because he'd have all the right connections._

_Olivia would learn to understand. Giving his son to the family was a gift to his son, not a hinderance. Killing Cole was his responsibility to her. Love meant keeping her safe. Love meant giving her the same peace of mind she gave him.

* * *

_

"-As District Attorney for the 56th District of the State of California according to the best of my ability and understanding, so help me God."


	64. quiet water

Bette pulled her car, the white Lexus from her last divorce, neatly into visitor's parking near the campus library. Caitlin's Mercedes, the one her father had bought her for her twentieth birthday, was two rows over. Checking her smile in the rearview mirror, she tucked her tape recorder into her purse and left her car. One of Caitlin's friends had told her that the she met her boyfriend often in the garden behind the library and it seemed as good a place to start as any.

She had barely walked the periphery of the garden before fate smiled on her. Caitlin emerged from the library, her cellular phone started to ring as she walked across the garden. Keeping still behind the thick hydrangea bush, Bette remained unnoticed by the young woman as she answered her phone.

"Hello? ... Yes, yes I'm alone." Caitlin tossed a glance around, but saw no one in the late afternoon sun. "What happened?"

"She did what!" Bette heard a thud, the sound of Caitlin striking the bench beneath her in disgust. "How could she do that? She's just a woman-"

The other voice was so upset that Bette could almost hear the words from the other end of the line. She heard the rustling of Caitlin's clothes as she stiffened angrily. "It's not my fault. You're the one who couldn't control her."

The indigence went immediately out of Caitlin's tone. She'd been chastised, viciously from the other party. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean that." Bette held back a whistle of astonishment. She hadn't heard Caitlin become quiet that quickly for anyone but her father.

"Yes, yes of course I'm still on your side." She became placating, gentle and accommodating. "No, don't say that, don't even think it. We're in this together Cole- you know that."

Bette slapped her hands over her mouth to cover her gasp of surprise. Cole? - She had to have heard Caitlin wrong. There must be some mistake.

"I didn't mean to get angry with you Cole. I'm sorry- I just don't see how she could have gotten away. ... She's just so little-" It wasn't a mistake. She might have misheard a name once, but not twice. Maybe it was some other Cole. Some other man-

Her heart suddenly pumped cold when Bette realized she was Olivia. She had gotten away, but that meant- she shook her head slowly in horror. For Olivia to have gotten away she had to have been caught. Her cell phone was out of her purse and in her hand before she even thought about calling Roger and demanding to know what the bastard had done now. Bette forced herself to calm down. Gregory had been looking for his wife, and he was tenacious. Olivia wouldn't be helped by her blowing her cover now.

Bette wanted to refuse to believe it. To rewind time and be somewhere else where she wouldn't have to know the awful truth. The only thing that gave her any cause for hope was the fact that Cole was upset. "The bad guys being angry means they haven't won yet." She reminded herself in a soundless whisper.

"No- I don't know-" Caitlin was being accused of something, her voice was apologetic again. "You have to believe me. Yes, yes I'll go right home. ... I'll meet you tonight."

* * *

"And I don't know who she was talking too, but honey, they had a lot of power over her. When Cate got off the phone she looked like she was going to cry." Bette explained as Roger flopped down on the couch next to her.

"You know she's upstairs right now, talking to her parents." He rested his head in his hands a moment and shook his head. "I can't believe she was talking to Cole."

"Cole was talking to her. She was apologizing." Bette caught his hand for support, dropping her voice to a horrified whisper. "She told Cole where to find Olivia-"

Roger rested his forehead against hers answering her in the same whisper. "The way Olivia tells it, Caitlin convinced her the bloody test was a good idea."

"No- I don't see- How could she?"

"What are you two whispering about?" Caitlin asked cheerfully from the staircase. "You're certainly close lately."

Impulsively kissing Bette's cheek, Roger gave every impression of not having a care in the world as he winked up at Caitlin. "Nothing that you need to worry about beautiful. How are your parents doing?"

"Mom's still upset, but dad said he'd stay until she felt better." Sympathy was becoming incredibly easy to fake, like putting on her makeup in the morning.

"Well I'm sure having the new bodyguards will make her feel better." Bette replied with a warm smile. "They're going over the, what do you call it-"

"The perimeter." Roger filled in.

Bette tugged herself up with a hand on his arm. "As Mr. Bond here said, the perimeter, with Ricardo right now."

"Bodyguards? What bodyguards?" Caitlin looked away, pouring herself a glass of water to quell the dryness in her mouth.

Bette and Roger shared a look, but Roger touched her shoulder calmly. "They're from the justice department. Of course it's your father's news to tell-"

"Oh he wouldn't mind." Caitlin assured him with a winning smile. "Besides, it'll be awhile before Mom lets him out of her sight."

"I don't think you can blame her sweetheart," Bette's voice came out unnaturally harsh. "I think we'd all be a little hysterical if someone had tried to kill us-"

"Of course," Caitlin brushed at her eyes, letting the dry skin of her hands rest against her eyeballs until they stung with tears. "I'm not used to someone trying to kill my mother."

Bette couldn't bring herself to reach out to the girl. Roger responded to Caitlin's crocodile tears, wrapping an arm around her shoulder as the tears started to pour down her face. "Who would do this to her? What do they want?"

Bette bit back her lip, so that only she heard her angry response. "We should be asking you that beauty."

* * *

Gregory got the call just after three in the morning. There was no introduction. "Your request has been granted. Meet at the construction site." The phone line clicked dead.

He replaced the phone on the receiver and rolled over. Olivia lay peacefully next to him, her hand tossed up lazily on her pillow next to her. She'd needed no sedatives to fall asleep. The wounds on her back would heal. The eight stripes on her back were closing, the blood was dry beneath the bandages. Roger's assurances that the baby was fine were the only thing that let either of them sleep.

Ricardo had been unable to find Cole. It didn't matter that a mountain of evidence had been amassed and Cole had finally taken enough rope to hang himself. The riding crop had his fingerprints on one end and Olivia's blood on the other. Even her amber necklace had a perfect thumbprint on it. The hospital search had tied up the SBPD for nearly three hours and Cole St. John was still a free man. Gregory's connections had been far more efficient and if he turned Cole over to the authorities he'd be facing felony charges. Assault in the first degree, attempted murder, extortion- all of it was enough to lock Cole away. He'd likely never see sunlight again.

Likely wasn't nearly good enough. He knew the way a good defender could manipulate the system. This was personal.

Gregory kissed her cheek, careful to use only the slightest pressure. Swinging his bare feet to the floor, he slipped out from the sheets. Crossing to the closet, he choose his clothes carefully. He'd been meaning to get rid of the black shirt and pants he pulled on for a few weeks now, and this was the perfect night for black.

Kneeling down to tie on his walking shoes, Gregory's eyes remained on his bed. Once she was out of tears Olivia was fine. She'd even had a smile for him when they'd gone to bed together. He couldn't tell her how he'd needed that simple gesture. The new alarm system, the two bodyguards from the justice department playing cards in their kitchen, even the fatal phone call of a moment ago- none of it could say they were all right more then her smile. Her smile said she believed that he could protect her and he was going to make sure that belief was well placed.

Gregory stood and headed for the door of their bedroom. Pausing at her nightstand, he toyed with her diamond engagement ring for a moment before retrieving it. The ring would remind him not to show mercy. He kissed it once before tucking it into his pocket.

Waving to the agents as he retrieved Belle's leash and called the dog to his side, Gregory shrugged at their questions. "I can't sleep and I'm taking a walk."

The woman, young agent Montgomery, nodded over her hand of cards. "Sounds like you're looking for the lecture."

Gregory snorted his laughter, appreciating her candor. "You stay with my wife. Mr. St. John's not going to do anything to me."

Her partner agreed with a silent nod and tossed him a heavy black keychain. "Panic button, press it and the police will be notified immediately. If Mrs. Richards asks us, we'll come looking for you. If you aren't back in an hour, we'll come get you. And Agent Sorenson will be accompanying you."

"Oh you don't have to wake him, I know the kind of hours you work. I'll drop by the Lichfield and pick up Dr. Baxter. If we stay together- that's acceptable isn't it?"

"Call when you get to the Lichfield." Agent Spears advised firmly as he studied his hand and turned his attention back to his partner. "I'll bid three, spades."

"Hope you clear your head." Agent Montgomery wished him as she nodded to her partner's bid. "Spades it is."

* * *

As night fell, Cole tossed his frustrating cellular phone across the room onto the expensive overstuffed sofa of his Lichfield apartment. "Damn her. Damn Olivia. God damn them both. Let Gregory keep his women- I've had one and nearly taken the other, what's left for him?" He poured himself a drink and toasted his reflection in the mirror.

"Maybe I've been going about this the wrong way." He wondered as he finished his whiskey and the ice cubes clunked together on the bottom of his glass. "Maybe I should have listened to my father and gotten the hell out of Sunset Beach when he wanted me too."

His reflection smiled at him as they refilled their glasses from the half-empty bottle of whiskey. "But then I wouldn't have gotten to show dear Olivia what fear tastes like." His smile died away and his reflection stared at him with disgust. "But she stood up to me, didn't she?"

Olivia's blasted silence had bothered him more than Cole cared to admit even to his own reflection. She had beaten him and to top it all off, she had escaped. "Temporally." Cole felt the bump on the back of his head with tentative fingers. The dried blood had come out of his hair in the shower, and he had been lucky. He'd come around before the police closed in on him. Slipping past hospital security was easy enough, but if he'd been a few minutes slower- The image of Gregory gloating at him through the bars of a jail cell was distinctly unpleasant.

Cole washed it down with another drink, his watch said he still had twenty minutes before he should be leaving to meet Caitlin. Twenty minutes to find a way around the bodyguards. No one was suspicious of Caitlin. "Perhaps it's time I involved her more directly." His reflection smiled in agreement.

* * *

When Caitlin arrived in the grotto the sun was already deep beneath the ocean. Cole however, was nowhere to be found. At first she thought Cole was late. Then that he was trying to punish her for the way her mother had escaped his grasp. He just didn't understand. As much as it infuriated him to have failed again, Caitlin was the one who had to live with her mother. Who had to watch as she sucked the life out of her father to feed _it _as _it_ grew inside of her. _It_ was the problem. _It_ was had ruined everything.

When she got bored of waiting, Caitlin swung her backpack over her shoulders and started to leave the grotto. Cole wasn't coming. "Only a man would demand I be here and then never show up. Cole, wherever you are, I hope you're happy."

Bette cleared her throat as she walked out of the shadows of the stone. "I'm not sure where he is beauty but I sincerely doubt Cole's having any fun."

* * *

Belle trotted obediently at his side as they hurried through the empty streets of Sunset Beach. in the quiet of the pre-dawn hours, only a few stray public workers were even awake. She didn't mind being used as an alibi. In fact, she might even enjoy the morning's activity. Gregory didn't even have to buzz up to the Lichfield for Roger. The good doctor was waiting for him on the steps of the apartment and he bounced to his feet when Gregory approached with the St. Bernard.

Roger traded Gregory the small black duffle bag for the leash of the dog. "It's exactly what you're wearing, just like you asked."

Gregory allowed himself a small, grim smile. "I'll meet you on the beach behind my house in fifty minutes."

"The bodyguards expect us back by then?" Roger asked quietly as he fidgeted with Belle's soft ears.

"That they do." Gregory met his eyes for a moment and Roger realized that the next time he looked at his friend something would be changed.

"Well we should get on with our walk, we'll talk about Olivia, Christmas in Manchester and Sean's studies at Chesterfield. In case you're curious." He headed towards the beach with Belle and Gregory turned towards the construction site.

The sub-basement of the future South Bay Medical School was currently a muddy pit. The rains of past few days had filled it with water. Water that soaked over Cole's feet and into his expensive leather shoes. It was wet up to his ankles, and the wetness was what brought him back from the fog of unconsciousness. Being knocked senseless was becoming the order of the day and the fairly large amount of whiskey he had consumed certainly wasn't helping.

Was it still night? Cole's senses were dulled and he couldn't be sure if his eyes were open or closed. It was certainly dark enough to be. Did it ever get this dark in Sunset Beach?

The darkness disappeared as the bag was lifted forcefully from his head. Then a cascade of icy, brackish water brought him coughing and sputtering to the present. The cuffs on his hands were released, whoever was in control was behind him. Cole jumped from his chair and whirled to face his attacker.

The attacker was gone. Confused, Cole turned back to the original direction he was facing, hands closing on the simple metal chair he had been dumped in. He heard the soft click of metal handcuffs being dropped onto cement off to his left. Gregory Richards stretched his hands in front of him before dropping them to his sides. "I don't think we've ever officially met." His right hand dropped into his pocket, finding the warm weight of Olivia's engagement ring.

"We frequent the same places, you've been in my house, really it is a surprise we haven't met until now." He let the ring slip back into his pocket and extended his right hand towards Cole. "Gregory Richards-"

Cole smiled, exposing perfectly white teeth in a demonic grin. He didn't extend his hand. "Finally got sick of me?"

Gregory looked at his rejected hand and shrugged as he withdrew it. "I was sick of you the moment I knew you existed." He could feel Cole sizing him up, the thief was easily half his age and perhaps a few inches taller. There was confidence in Cole's brown eyes. Confidence that Gregory wanted to encourage.

"And it took you that long to find me?" He laughed and shook his head in mocking disappointment. "Tsk tsk. You aren't really living up to your reputation." Cole turned his wrists and flexed his fingers.

Gregory stood his ground and let Cole advance on him. "I would hate to think I'd let you down."

They were within an arm's reach of each other now. Circling slowly, Cole came towards Gregory's position on the high ground, the one spot in the pit without the brackish water. "Oh I wouldn't worry about that, I'll be thoughtful enough to give my apologies to your lovely wife. I'm sure she'll believe me when i tell her your last thoughts were of her."

"See, now there's a problem-" Gregory folded his arms over his chest and thoughtfully rested his chin on his hand. "I can't have you talking to my wife." He took a step away from Cole, even turning his back a fraction. "Or looking at her." His eyes were darker then the night sky above them and absorbed what little light there was. "In fact, even thinking about her might be too much-"

Cole through the first punch a right hook that Gregory caught and shoved away from his face easily. "I'll be able to do more then think-" Cole closed the distance between them, putting them so close that they could feel the proximity of each other. "Once you're dead."

"It's just not turning out to be your day, is it Mr. St. John?" Gregory let his shoulders tighten. He wanted Cole to think he was angry, that he was off-balance, that he was weak. "I don't think I'll be able to accommodate you."

This time Cole's fist lashed out towards his stomach. Tightening his abdominal muscles in response, Gregory took the hit and came up smiling. "That request, however, I think I can fit in." His retaliatory strike caught Cole just above the right hip. What he lacked in youth, he had in experience.

Cole's sharp inhalation of pain fueled Gregory's determination. While Cole went for his jaw, knocking his teeth together did little to rattle his resolve and Gregory came back with a series of blows to Cole's unprotected stomach.

Cole slammed his fist into Gregory's teeth, bloodying the older man's lip, but bashing the hard enamel had torn the flesh of Cole's hands. Bright red blood dripped down to the muddy cement. It barely had the time to fall before they lunged at each other again. Cole began with confidence, counting on his youth to lend him the upper hand. He put his energy into a quick victory, backing every hit with as much of his strength as he could muster.

Gregory's smile remained unaffected. His speed was constant, his hands sure and steady. He was unassailable. As Cole tired, it seemed the Gregory was always one step ahead of him. His blocks came up faster, his fists flashed out quicker in return. The more Cole lagged behind, the more strength Gregory lashed out with.

Their breathing was a symphony of disharmony. Gregory's practiced, quick and controlled. Ragged and panting, Cole lost more ground with every breath. Gregory was backing him down from the dry cement. Cole ducked away from a lunge and felt the water slosh up past his ankle. The ground beneath the water was muddy and it drained more strength as he moved his feet through it.

The black water churned into a froth of white around their feet. Gregory dropped his left shoulder and felt Cole's fist sail past his ear. Slamming both hands into the side of Cole's chest drew a crunch of breaking ribs. Cole jumped away, coughing for air. Gregory pulled back long enough to watch the bloody pink spit drip from Cole's bruised lips.

Cole took another step back, seeming to loose his balance a second before he charged. Gregory heard the desperate inhalation into tortured lungs a half-second before it was too late. He jumped back to the side and thrust up his knee. Cole's stomach was hard and the muscles of his leg screamed in agony at the violation. Gregory held and the heavy bones of his leg succeeded. Cole went down.

Dropping to his hands and knees in the water, Cole felt the jolt in his shoulders as his arms struck the cement. The thin layer of muck squelched up between his fingers. He spent a moment contemplating the surface of the water, the way the tiny waves mimicked the movement of the ocean.

Gregory moved with quiet certainty and the water seemed to part as he crossed to Cole. The reflection of his eyes in the water was burned into Cole's memory. Gregory's face was human enough, lips twisted in an animalistic grin, but his eyes were as dark as the water. The water surged up into his ears as Gregory shoved his head down. Digging his fingers into Cole's hair, Gregory held him under until Cole's entire body started to thrash desperately for air. Cole felt his head break the surface, and one tortured breath shot pain through his lungs. The knife of the broken ribs stabbed into his right side.

Cole went down again, face-first into the grasping black water. Muddy water filled his nose, sting up through his sinuses. The bitter taste of it overpowered the coppery blood. Gregory slammed his head into the cement, bringing the flash of explosive agony. Eternity passed while Cole waited for Gregory to bring him up again, but instead of bring his head up for one more torturous breath, something heavy climbed onto his back.

Gregory's knees pressed down into his shoulders, his feet dug into Cole's back, and his hands remained on the beck of Cole's neck. He could feel the angry fingers close around the base of his skull. Steel bands held his face to the muck. The burning became uncontrollable and Cole had to breath in. He fought against the pain in his chest, against the weight of Gregory's body.

Ice crept past his lips. He had to hold on, but his body breathed in. Water sliced through his lungs in a rain of razors. The pain of his broken ribs paled as his entire chest burst into unspeakable agony. His eyes opened to the water, seeing nothing as his own feeble struggles for life stirred it to a froth again.

Gregory pushed downward as Cole's thrashing spiked in a final, desperate plea for life. As soon as the water filled his lungs, the thrashing faded. He could feel the muscles tense and grow tighter still beneath him. The beating of Cole's heart was a panicked thudding beneath his fingertips. It raced faster, as if speed could replace oxygen. Then after a final twitch, Cole was still.

Around them the water stilled, growing mirror smooth as neither man moved. When Gregory was satisfied, he stood up, stirring the water slightly as he slogged out of the pit. The water grew quiet again, lapping gently around the body that had been Cole St. John until the waves were gone and everything was still.

He held Olivia's ring in a tight fist as he watched Cole's body float to the surface. Burning the image into his memory, he turned and walked away from the construction site. Gregory stripped off his clothes, replacing each item of his clothing with an identical counterpart from the black duffle bag. He even had new running shoes to change into. His muddy, bloodstained clothes went into the bag instead. As he walked easily down the street, he tossed it into a garbage truck going about it's morning rounds.

Roger was waiting for him on the beach, Belle chewing on a large piece of driftwood. His friend handed him a pack of alcohol wipes as he looked for the change in Gregory's eyes. "You've still got a few minutes, get yourself cleaned up or the bodyguards will think I beat you."

They sat in silence as Gregory cleaned the blood from his face and neck. Roger's professional eye gave him a quick once-over. "You look all right." There was an innocence gone from Gregory's dark eyes. Something Roger knew from experience. "It changes you, taking a human life."

Gregory laughed softly, folding the dirty cloths into a ball in his hand. He patted Roger's shoulder as he stood and snapped his fingers for Belle. "I'll let you know when I've taken a human one."

Slipping past the bodyguards was simple, they looked him over, waved to Roger and returned to their card game. Belle downed her breakfast and settled into the living room sofa. Gregory opened his mouth to let her down and stopped himself. Today, she deserved it. He left her in the living room and climbed the stairs up to his bedroom. Caitlin's room was empty on his left. Sean's was empty around the corner. The door to the master bedroom was shut, just as he had left it.

Olivia had crept into his side of the bed, as was her habit when he was up before she was. He circled to drop her engagement ring back in the tray on her nightstand. Gregory's clothes came off again, this time he dumped them to the floor of the bathroom, just as if he had been out jogging with Roger. The shower came on hot and stung into every cut and scrape on his body. Some of the injuries on his chest would turn to bruises, but Olivia would believe an overzealous workout with Roger had caused them.

He shut off the water, taking a long breath and enjoying the smell of clean. That spicy scented soap Olivia liked him to use, whatever she called it, was heaven after the stink of mud. Gregory toweled off, leaving his skin pink with his efforts. He wasn't taking anything of that bastard into bed with her. Slipping beneath the covers , he pulled her sleeping body up just enough to slide beneath her.

Olivia's arms tightened around him in response, along with a little sigh of contentment. The swell of her belly pressed slightly into his side, and Gregory smiled as he remembered the difficulties in sharing a bed with a very pregnant Olivia. He could count on that now. She was safe again. His fingers danced over the injuries on her back, when they healed the last of Cole would be gone. He'd never be able to hurt her again. "You're safe now. As safe as I could possibly make you."

Olivia stirred slightly, turning her head towards the sound of his voice. Suddenly she sat up, dragging his arm up with her. Gregory bolted up next to her, both hands falling to her back. Her forehead furrowed in concern for a moment but then her eyes fluttered open with a gasp of surprise. "Gregory-"

She caught one of his hands and brought it to her stomach. "Can you feel that?"

He sighed in relief as his heart slowed to a normal rate. Gregory nuzzled into her neck. "No Liv, I don't feel anything."

"Shh-" She ordered him firmly. "You have to concentrate, maybe he'll do it again."

Olivia felt the weight of his head on her shoulder. "What did he do?"

Laughing softly, she tightened her grip on his hand. "Oh darling, he moved. I thought I was dreaming-" Her face erupted into a brilliant smile. "He just did it again, can't you feel that?"

He raised an eyebrow and shook his head as he kissed her temple. "No, but I'll believe you." Lying back down, he was pleased when she snuggled into his arms, keeping both of their hands entwined over the side of her belly.

"He's okay." Olivia whispered to him with quiet astonishment. "He's really okay."

He shifted to look into her eyes, finding absolution in the naked love in her gaze. "Of course he is sweetheart, of course he is. Now go back to sleep."

She giggled, caught between like an excited little girl on Christmas morning and the woman who had been terrified her actions had doomed her child. "I don't know how you expect me to sleep."

Gregory's hand traced the contours of her face, tracing each curve on his way down from her forehead to her chin. "You don't have to sleep. I'm just glad you're here."

kissing his finger as it brushed past her lips, Olivia bit back a yawn as she looked up at him in confusion. "Where else would I go?"

"Oh nowhere." He replied easily as he traced the outline of her mouuth. "Nowhere at all."


	65. moratorium

The medical examiner, Warner snapped on her gloves as detectives Torres and Stevens invaded the morgue. "We just got the dental records back but there aren't any missing men with his description in the greater California area. I did manage to get a partial fingerprint-" She opened a drawer and undid the zipper on the long black body bag. "Off his left hand. Had to get down to the last layer of skin to find anything worth lifting."

The nauseating smell of rotting flesh oozed out to fill the room. "If he hadn't have floated around in sea water for such a long time I'd have more for you."

Paula furrowed her eyebrows thoughtfully. "How long do you think he was in the water?"

"The supervisor on the construction site, Dennis Garrison, said the pumps had failed on Thursday night, and if our corpse had been there during the day someone would have seen him." Warner pulled free the left hand of the body from the bag, only two fingers remained as more than ragged stubs. She indicated the ring finger and tilted the palm up to demonstrate. "His right hand is gone completely. We're just lucky the scavengers didn't get to all his fingers."

"What does the one print give us?" Ricardo asked as he put his hand over his nose. "Anything match?"

Warner dropped the hand back into the body bag and indicated a manila folder with a shrug as Paula picked it up. "You thought your Richards case didn't have enough publicity before-"

Paula opened it up and bit back a gasp of surprise. "Ricardo, this could be Cole St. John."

Ricardo didn't need to reach for the file to realize his life had suddenly become very, very complicated.

* * *

One Ocean Avenue rarely saw as much activity as it had that Monday morning. At seven am the bodyguards switched, Agents Montgomery and Spears trading off with Agents Craig and Sorenson. By eight, Gregory was trying to finish his breakfast with Roger, Ethan and Bette, as messengers from the DA's office started to arrive. By eight-thirty breakfast was forgotten as the mountain of paperwork grew in his study. As district attorney he had three assistants, and each of them handled a bevy of cases.

Even with Laura Fitzgerald helping him sort the state's cases by trial date, he suddenly had a new respect for the system he had tried to circumvent all these years as a defender. The option to deal with all of this in his office in the Federal Building was there, as Laura reminded him as his neatly organized study became an altar to all that was criminal in Sunset Beach.

His suit jacket lay over the back of the sofa, Laura, who continued to insist she was retired and she wanted to enjoy it, had shown up in a t-shirt and jeans. She straightened and kicked the carton of lesser misdemeanors back into the corner. "Mostly D and E felonies, no hurry with that one."

He reached for the carton in the center of his desk only to have Laura grab his hand away. "SV cases, I wouldn't get into those now."

"SV?" Gregory pulled back his hand, noting the term in his mind.

"Special Victims," Laura began to explain with a grim expression, but Rose's quick knock on the door turned them both around.

"Detective Torres is here to see you sir."

Gregory left Laura to the case files and followed Rose out into his living room. Agent Craig opened the front door at a nod from him. Ricardo kept his hands in his pockets as he stepped gracefully in through the doorway. "I'm sorry to bother you at home Mr. Richards."

"I hope for your sake you have news about Mr. St. John." Gregory was careful to keep face neutral. He'd been expecting this visit from Ricardo ever since he had returned to bed with Olivia that fateful morning. Neutral wouldn't be enough to convince Ricardo and in order to tap the emotions that would, he needed Olivia at his side.

"I do," He looked quickly around the living room. "Is Mrs. Richards home?"

Gregory's eyes flashed upstairs and he sank into a chair. "She's asleep."

Ricardo didn't have to feign his reluctance. The last thing he wanted to do was drag the pregnant Mrs. Richards out of her bed to identify the rotting carcass of the man who attacked her. "I'm going to be candid with you, Mr. Richards. We've got a body."

"St. John's dead." It had certainly taken the police long enough to find the body. Every sign of Gregory's presence at that site was gone with the rush of sea water. After a weekend in the water Cole would be barely recognizable as human anymore. He let half a smile slip through his control. "Don't know when I've heard better news. Where ever did you find him?"

"Floating face down at a construction site." Ricardo studied Gregory, looking for any sign of weakness, any trembling of the hands that would give away that he knew more then he was letting on. "Your construction site as a matter of fact."

"I'm afraid I have no idea what you're getting at." The grin on Gregory's face turned icy. "The construction site is protected by a fence and a rusty padlock. It's designed to keep children from getting hurt. I sincerely doubt it would make a murderer pause."

Sighing as he sat down across from him, Ricardo noted that he hadn't been offered a drink or a seat by Gregory. "As the only person who's seen him, I'm going to need Olivia to come down and identify the body."

"No!" The word was out before Gregory had time to reign it in and he was out of his seat with his response. "She hasn't left the house since she was attacked." The dangerous edge was in his tone now. "Olivia is not going down to morgue."

"I'm afraid it's the only way we can be sure that our body is indeed Mr. St. John. Olivia's the only one who's seen him." Ricardo let himself smile at Gregory's back. That response wasn't orchestrated because for a second he had seen honest emotion. "If she won't identify him, we'll have to put him in the county graveyard as a John Doe."

"She's not even awake yet." Gregory hissed as he turned around.

Ricardo shrugged and held his ground. "Olivia doesn't have to identify him if someone else could. Are you sure you didn't get a look at him?"

Walking past the detective, Gregory opened the door. "No, I'm afraid I haven't seen him."

"I'll expect you and your wife within the hour." Stopping in the doorway, Ricardo suddenly remembered. "Where were you, say early Friday morning?"

It was the kind of smile demons used to lure children in fairy tales. "In bed with my wife, then walking the dog with Roger-" Gregory paused and corrected himself. I mean Dr. Baxter."

"You'll sign an affidavit?" Ricardo knew that threat was toothless. If he'd killed Cole, Gregory would not be caught in some common slip-up.

Nodding as he starting to shut the door. "Both Roger and I will for the hour I was out. As for the rest of the night, I'm certain Olivia will tell you I was next to her the entire time. I'm afraid she doesn't sleep well without me."

* * *

"He was in the water for a couple days, I'm afraid it's not very pleasant." Medical Examiner Warner explained apologetically.

Roger took the offered jar of vapor rub and used a finger to put it under both nostrils. He held it up to Olivia with a nod. "It really does help with the smell love."

Gregory's hand went through her hair, smoothing it back against her neck. Olivia did as she was told, but Gregory felt the sharpness of guilt whenever she looked at him.

"It'll only take a moment, you just have to tell us if it's him or not." Warner waited patiently for Olivia to pull together her resolve, but when her hand went to the zipper of the body bag Olivia turned away. Gregory caught her shoulders and held her against his chest. "I know I told you you'd never have to see him again, but he's dead Liv. He can't hurt you anymore."

Letting Gregory wipe frightened tears from her face, Olivia nodded weakly. "I know, I just-"

Roger's hand patted her back and he wandered over to talk to the Warner. They turned their attention to the x-rays and Warner's findings in the autopsy.

Sighing heavily, Olivia bit her lip as she stared at the floor. "What if it's not him?"

Gregory's arms tightened around her and he lowered his head. She was the only one who heard him whisper. "I swear to you Olivia, Cole will never, ever touch you again."

Below her stomach, their baby fluttered and she knew could believe Gregory. Olivia didn't want to know why he was so certain, but it was enough. Turning back to the doctors with Gregory's hands still securely on her shoulders, Olivia cleared her throat. "I'm ready."

She shut her eyes and listened the slow hum of the zipper. Just behind the sound came the smell, the sickly sweet haze of rot. Though it crept up up them, when it arrived it hit like the oncoming wall of a hurricane. The intensity of the vapor rub was a fond memory after the bag was opened. It was if the scent could reach in through her nose and crawl down into her stomach. Olivia swayed slightly, feeling immediately nauseous, but Gregory was solid behind her. She felt his quick intake of breath and realized he was looking at Cole.

Ricardo saw the shock flash across Gregory's face in the wake of the pleasure he expected. Shock quickly gave way to the same concern he'd had since he arrived at the morgue. Gregory's face was entirely unreadable beyond his worry for his wife. He watched Gregory's hands slide up and down Olivia's shoulders as she started to pull back from the table. Roger stood at Warner's arm, looking down at the body with professional detachment.

Olivia opened her eyes on the faces across from her first. The corpse lay just beneath the edge of her vision, but she didn't want to look down. She took a slow breath inward and forced herself not to choke on the smell. Silently grateful for Gregory's insistence that she not eat before she came, Olivia tilted her head down to the body.

His hair was plastered to his head with water and mud, but it had been dark and curly. His forehead was high and streaked with blue rot and peeling skin. Thinking she might actually be all right, Olivia let her gaze continue down. She gasped, putting her hand over her mouth to keep herself from being sick. His eyes were gone, dark holes stared blindly up from beneath his eyebrows where they had been. One of his eyelids was gone and the other hung on as a shred of ragged flesh. One side of his nose was torn away, and his lips had been nearly chewed off, exposing perfect white teeth.

But he had been Cole. The missing eyes were the terrible eyes that lit up with pleasure at the fear in her face. She was sure. Fleeing the sight of him, Olivia turned without seeing anything but the wreck of the corpse's face in her mind. Gregory caught her, pulling her back to him, whispering that it was all right. "You don't have to keep looking."

With her husband's body between her and the corpse, she felt a little better. As if the horrible holes in his face couldn't stare at her with Gregory between them.

At Ricardo's nod, Warner zipped up the bag. "Mrs. Richards, is this the man who attacked you?"

Olivia pulled away from Gregory's chest, but kept her death grip on his arms with her hands. "Yes detective, that's him." The steadiness of her own voice surprised her.

"And you'd be able to swear to that in court?" Ricardo continued as he watched the anger grow on Gregory's face.

Her hand caught her mouth again and she nodded as turned her eyes desperately towards the door. "It's Cole." Gregory pushed the door open and followed her as she fled the morgue.

The back door opened to a parking lot and he stopped her bid for freedom right next to the door. "It's all right Liv. I told you he couldn't hurt you anymore."

She swallowed again, feeling the smell of the morgue cling to her hair and clothing. "Hold me." Kissing her head and folded her hands into his chest, Gregory obeyed.

"I know this was difficult for you, but he's gone now. You've seen him dead-" He continued to rub her back, smiling slightly as he felt the bump of her pregnancy press against him. "I think that'll be better for you."

"He can't hurt us." Olivia repeated as she felt the odd sensation take hold of her. She couldn't remember feeling this way, or what it was that was settling over her. Finally looking up, she let her tears fall on his jacket.

"He can't hurt anyone again, ever." Gregory smiled gently as he noticed Agent Sorenson listening to his earpiece and close the distance to them.

"Detective Torres would like you both to come back in and sign some papers, whenever you're ready of course."

"Of course." Gregory let go of his control and let his relief light his face as he kissed her cheek. "Let's get the paperwork out of the way, I bet you'd love some breakfast."

Olivia took a moment to realize that she agreed with him. Out in the sunshine it was hard to feel bad about anything. They were free now, completely released from the dark cloud Cole had put over everything. The strangling hand in her chest was gone. "You want to go out for breakfast?"

He used his handkerchief to wipe the vapor cream from her face. "Only if you'll come with me."

Taking advantage of his proximity, Olivia kissed his lips sweetly.

"What was that for?" Gregory asked in surprise as he lead her back inside.

"Just for being yourself." Olivia replied with a smile that reassured him. "And for taking me shopping."

He raised an eyebrow and started to chuckle. "We still haven't gone, have we?"

"No," Olivia replied with a touch of a pout. "And I can't keep wearing your shirts, eventually you might want some of them."

Gregory cupped the swell of her pregnancy with his hands and shook his head. "You look better in them anyway. Liv, you are so beautiful-" He returned the kiss, not caring that Ricardo was advancing on them down the hallway. "I think I forget how lucky I am."

"How lucky we are-" Olivia felt the tears sting her eyes again as she realized the baby was moving almost in response to his hands. "Darling, we both are."


	66. connected

"What?" Gregory wound his hand around her arm, sneaking his fingers into her palm. "Why the big sigh?"

Olivia bit her lip, smiling as slight embarrassment put a pink flush in her cheeks. "You'll think it's silly."

Pulling his hand away, he shut their shopping bags away in the back of the blue Jaguar and reached for both of her hands this time. "Olivia- try me."

Looking down towards his shoes, she sighed again as she brought her head back up. "I'm hungry."

"We just had breakfast at Elaine's, no more than two hours ago and both of us have a lot to do today-" Gregory began with great irritation as he slammed shut the trunk of the car.

Olivia's slight flush faded and turned into a smile. "Told you."

He leaned back against the car and watched as Agents Sorenson and Craig circled the car and waited patiently on either side of them. "What do you want to do?" Reaching for her hands, Gregory pulled her back towards him. "Want to go back for lunch?"

Agent Kevin Sorenson pointed down the street thoughtfully. "I don't mean to evesdrop, but there's an ice cream shop down the street I'm fond off."

His partner nodded in agreement as she straightened her sunglasses. "Street's clear enough, you can walk if you like."

Kissing his wife's cheek, Gregory tried to find the humor in having to be escorted down the street for ice cream. "What do you think darling? Would ice cream be acceptable?"

"Ice cream would be lovely." Olivia felt his arm slip behind her back and she snuggled into it. "We'll have plenty of time to get everything done, I promise not to force you to feed me again for at least an hour."

"Good practice for the baby I suppose." Shaking his head as he started down the street, Gregory remembered walking the upstairs hallway with a shrieking baby in his arms. "I'm going to have to remember how to do without sleep again aren't I?"

"You won some of your best trials without sleep." She giggled and remembered how no matter how tired he had been, he'd always been able to get up for Caitlin's screams in the night. "Maybe this baby will help you win some more, mister District Attorney."

"It's certainly going to be different Liv, no more trying to poke holes in the People's case, trying to instill that last bit of doubt into the jury-" Gregory watched the light glint off her distracting diamond earrings as she tilted her head thoughtfully.

"You are the People now." Olivia felt his eyes on her face and stopped walking. "Think about it darling, you're going to protect all of Sunset Beach." Beaming with quiet pride, she looked down the little market district. "Keep the whole town safe."

Gregory caught her hands and pulled them in close to his chest. "I've only ever wanted to keep you safe, Olivia."

Her bodyguards looked politely past them as they paused on the sidewalk for a lingering kiss. She rested her head against his shoulder for a moment like a cat content in the sunlight. "I know Sunset Beach can count on you because, darling, you've never let me down."

* * *

They stopped on a bench overlooking the water. Sorenson and Craig kept a close eye on every person who walked within a hundred feet of them. Gregory watched the boats on the distant horizon but stole a glance at the way Olivia kept her ice cream perfect with the edge of her spoon. The great care she took to keep it from melting before she ate it, especially in the warm sun of early afternoon, was absolutely distracting. Her delicate fingers moved with exaggerated care, and she licked the plastic entirely clean each time before she returned spoon to dish.

Completely lost in the experience, Olivia barely noticed his eyes on her. It wasn't until he sunk his hand across her shoulders to play with her hair that she made contact with his twinkling brown eyes. The tip of his nose tickled her cheek as he leaned in close. "I'm almost jealous of your ice cream."

Laughing in great amusement, she pulled away from him on the bench, putting her body between him and her ice cream. "You try giving up coffee for nine months. Actually, you try giving up coffee for a week-"

His playful lunge for her spoon only made her laugh harder as he pried it out of her hands and grinned at her wickedly. "I can ask Rose to buy more coffee ice cream for you, if that's what you want."

"I want my spoon back." Olivia retorted as she watched the first drip of melting ice cream cascade down to pool in the bottom of her dish.

Gregory shook his head, made sure her spoon was far out of reach behind his back and kissed the corner of her mouth. "You're not getting it back."

Pouting as she tried to decide why he was in such a teasing mood, Olivia sighed as she watched the sun continue to attack her ice cream. "Are you going to feed me?"

Waving the spoon as a trophy just out of her reach, Gregory nodded boyishly. "Will you let me?"

"Give up coffee." She ordered firmly as she handed over her dish of slowly melting ice cream.

"Cold turkey?" Gregory filled the sp0on and held it up to her mouth.

Olivia's full lips closed around it in a smile. "Uh-huh."

Stealing the spoon back from her, Gregory traced the edge of the cup and held it up to her again. "For how long?"

"Until our baby is born." She demanded simply as she licked her lips.

Gregory pretended to drop the sp0on in shock. "That's a bit harsh don't you think?"

Looking down at the swell of her waistline, Olivia shook her head slowly. "Try gaining twenty pounds, being nauseous, getting dizzy, having your back hurt, your ankles swell up-"

He set down the ice cream on the bench next to him and caught her chin. Her lips with sticky with ice cream as he kissed her and lazily found every stray trace. "I love you." Gregory leaned his forehead against hers, finding everything in the sparkling blue of her eyes. "I will forever be grateful to you for carrying our children and-"

Her finger flashed up to cut him off. "And you'll give up coffee with me. At least-" She paused as she ran her hand down his chest. "Lawyers do love to compromise don't they?" You won't have any coffee, none, until I go into labor."

"Why then?" He studied her hands curiously and sighed as if the world was coming to an end. "Why not the baby's first birthday? Or college graduation for that matter?"

Olivia dropped her voice to a whisper. "I can't have you falling asleep on me when I need you can I?"

Suddenly shy with embarrassment, he stared down at the entwined fingers of their hands. "You know I couldn't sleep through that. I get too nervous."

Giggling, she nodded quickly in agreement. Her labors were much more traumatic for him than they ever were for her.

"I will always be here, with you."

The fluttering sensation below her navel made her heart skip. It was as if the baby had been waiting for Cole to be gone to awaken. "And our baby." He finished gently.

Her half smile and the sudden softening of her eyes made him stop. Olivia's smile blossomed as the movement continued. "He keeps moving when you're nearby." Her arms snuck up around his shoulders and she clung to him as relief threatened to overwhelm her. "Oh darling, I was so afraid that something was wrong, that something Cole had done-"

"Shhh-" His extraordinary way of being so calm was something she relied on. Olivia wondered if he knew how much strength she drew from him. The way any panic could be washed away into the quiet of his brown eyes.

Feeling her throat tighten, she felt his hands brush the stray tear from her cheek. "Or something I had done-"

"Liv," Gregory felt her nervous trembling and wished he had killed Cole the moment the bastard had set foot in Sunset Beach. "Stop, just stop doing this to yourself."

Olivia fought back her guilt and brought her smile back for him. "I'm sorry."

"I'll bet you are, your ice cream's melted." He held up the dish of soup and shook his head. "Now you're going to have to wait for lunch." Gregory jumped to his feet and held out a hand to her. As he pulled her up, he stole another moment to whisper, "I love you. Everything's going to be all right now. Just trust me. Trust us Liv, we can beat anything. Conquer anything."

"Together." She finished for him. Taking her hand, Gregory started back towards the car. Before the bodyguards were within earshot, Olivia stood on her tiptoes. "And thank you."

"For the ice cream?" Lifting her hand to his lips, he kissed it warmly. "Always."

Shaking her head, Olivia stopped him dead in his tracks when she clarified. "For killing Cole St. John."

* * *

AJ's day had gone to hell. His carefully constructed plans were destroyed and Gregory's touch was all over it. Cole had disappeared, and though he believed at first that his wayward son was simply hiding from his wrath. Cole had strict instructions not to kill Olivia and he had tossed them aside to suit his own devices. As his son, Cole needed to mind his father.

A return to Europe would be understandable, Cole was second to none when it came to collecting jewels around the tables of Monte Carlo. The usual sources in Europe had come up empty handed. AJ stormed back to his window and his liquor cabinet. With Olivia still out of the office recovering from Cole's attack, there really was no point to coming in to the office. In fact, he realized he could return to his apartment and search the European phones for Cole.

AJ finished his whiskey and picked up his briefcase. Beneath the papers on the hospital project were pictures of Olivia. The latest ones of her leaving the hospital a few days ago, surrounded by bodyguards. The stunned look on her face was captured perfectly alongside the helplessness of Gregory's. That was the way he preferred to see him. Cole may have been misguided, but the results were certainly interesting enough.

How long could Sunset Beach's newly appointed District Attorney play the caring husband? When would his patience for the Olivia's fears last long enough to keep her in the illusion safety? "Maybe you'll be ready to see reason when he hurts you again. And you know he's only going to hurt you again, don't you Angel?"

He ran his hand lovingly over the silver bracelet in his breast pocket of his jacket and shut his briefcase. AJ was waiting by the elevator when it opened onto his most private torment.

Gregory broke the lingering kiss he shared with his wife with a smile of victory. "Oh AJ, I'm sorry, we didn't realize you were there."

Olivia was beautiful, radiant with the passion of her stolen moment with her husband. Seeming far younger than AJ knew her to be, she giggled softly as Gregory whispered something in her ear. "You're working late tonight."

"I had some things to finish up." He shifted his briefcase to hold the door open as they slipped out of the elevator. "But what are you two doing here? I thought you were spending some more time recovering from your terrible ordeal at the hospital-"

"Oh that's sweet of you to worry about me AJ." She patted his hand but her gaze went immediately back to her husband. "But Gregory's taken good care of me."

"Thank you darling." Gregory wrapped his arms around her protectively and smiled as if he were embarrassed she had even noticed his fussing. "But it's my pleasure really."

"We were just sneaking away from our bodyguards- they think the Liberty building is safe enough to give us a little time by ourselves." Olivia leaned back into his embrace and gave AJ a wink. "Something about Gregory's security system makes even my bodyguards proud. But don't let us keep you. You looked like you were going home for the evening."

AJ pressed the elevator call button and sighed heavily. "I'm starting to remember why I retired. I hope you enjoy your time together."

Gregory chuckled as he toyed with the buttons of the oxford shirt of his Olivia had put on that morning in their rush to the morgue. He was certain the symbolism of Olivia wearing his clothing wasn't lost on AJ. "Oh we won't have a problem doing that. Will we darling?"

AJ felt cold fingers of jealousy close around his throat, but he kept a smile on his face. "I'm sure you will. Goodnight to you both."

Waving lazily goodbye, Olivia burst into giggles again as Gregory whirled her around to kiss her. The elevator doors took eternity to close, allowing him a framed view as Gregory caught her chin and backed her towards the wall. His hand tightened the shirt over her belly, revealing Gregory's most prominent mark on her. The baby, the final intimacy between two people that AJ had never been a part of.

Though he'd fathered a few children in his time, he'd never felt them move through their mother's skin. Never caressed them as they grew inside of his lovers. Maybe it wasn't Olivia he wanted, but the intimacy Gregory had with her. That connection AJ had only seen from a distance. Like a ghost of an emotion he couldn't describe because he'd never felt it. Just as he was as he walked to his car and drove home to his empty apartment, AJ was alone.

* * *

"I don't know what there is to understand." Bette tossed up her hands in exasperation. "You've been helping the man who tried to kill your mother! What possible explanation could you have?"

Roger grabbed her back from the sobbing younger woman and pushed Bette behind him. "You're not helping." He advised her softly. "Let her explain."

Crossing her arms firmly over her chest, Bette growled behind his back but was too disgusted to say anything more to Caitlin. Roger touched Caitlin's shoulder and fished his handkerchief out of his pocket to hand it to her. "Tell me sweetheart, I'll just sit here and listen okay? Take your time."

"I didn't want to hurt her." Roger's handkerchief became immediately soaked by her torrent of tears. "I swear, he-" Caitlin gulped and tried to find her voice through the lump in her throat. "Cole wasn't going to kill mom, he just wanted to scare her."

Her hands balled into fists as she advanced on the girl. "Scare her!"

Roger threw Bette a dirty look as she cried out in indignation, reminding her to keep quiet long enough for him to hear Caitlin's story. They needed to know everything she knew. Now that Cole was dead, it was the only way they were going to know anything he was really after.

"He wanted-" Caitlin collapsed to her knees, holding them tightly to her chest. "He just wanted the jewels, they're worth a fortune, he thought daddy would give them up- that daddy wouldn't want mom to suffer-" His arm went around her shoulders, and he listened. Roger heard every tortured word.

"He'd let the jewels go to keep mom safe, he got carried away." She gasped for breath and brought her tears to a halt. "We were going to run away with them and mom would have been safe. I never meant for her to get hurt, Cole loved me. We would have gone away, far away."

She reached for him, letting him rock her like a little girl. "I just wanted to run away and start my own life. He loved me, he loved me-"

Roger wrapped his arms around her. Mouthing to Bette over her shoulder that he'd talk to her later, he watched as she slammed the door to his apartment and left him alone with Caitlin. She'd be all right. A long walk on the beach would calm her down and Cole was dead. He wasn't dangerous anymore and Caitlin was young. She'd find another lover, someone else to steal her heart and fill her pretty head with dreams.

"Everything is going to be all right." Roger assured her with great patience. "Sometimes you just have to believe that it'll work out in the end and let things happen as they may."


	67. promises

Olivia pulled her feet up into her chair and sighed softly as she brushed a stray lock of hair back up into the french twist behind her head. The laptop computer on the desk in front of her waited patiently for her to finish the press release explaining the construction delay. It was still a bit odd to explain the how the death of her blackmailer had affected an entire community.

Bette was partly to blame for all the fuss. Her last two gossip columns had been full of intrigue and supposition. Society blaockmail, suspicious murders and mafia connections were like candy to the people of Sunset Beach and she was tossing it out like a Fourth of July parade. Olivia did have to give her some credit, all of Bette's wild speculations had never been anywhere near the truth. Which was probably exactly what Gregory intended.

"Mafia murder in Sunset Beach..." She repeated aloud to herself as she set the paper aside to finish her article in earnest. Gregory may have hired someone to kill Cole, but he certainly would never be involved in the mafia. It was brilliant of Bette to even think of them.

The quiet knock on the door surprised her up from her work. Casey peered around her door and smiled shyly. "You busy?

"For you, Mr. Mitchum, of course not." Olivia shut her computer and settled back into her chair. "Come in come in. What can I help you with?"

Standing at the corner of her desk, hands nervously in his pockets, he looked like he was trying not to admit he was facing a firing squad. "How's being back at work?"

"I get the feeling this isn't about work, but it's nice." She gestured towards the door and her omnipresent bodyguards on the other side. "I know Gregory feels a little better with a whole building of security looking out for me and I like having things to do, keeps me from thinking too much."

"But that scumbag's dead." Casey pointed out with more enthusiasm than he believed was proper for a murdered man, but Olivia's quiet smile made him feel better. "Looks like all your excitement is over."

Nodding quickly, she pointed to the chair in front of her desk. "I hope you're right. Gregory and I could use some time to get used to the idea of being parents again."

Casey sat uneasily, perching on the edge of his chair as he tried to smile. "I heard through the grapevine that Gregory Junior's started moving around."

"Sounds like his father didn't waste any time telling the world about it-" Olivia's hands went unconsciously to her stomach as she beamed back at him. "But yes, 'Gregory Junior' has decided to make his presence felt."

"What's it like? It doesn't hurt you, does it?" His boyish grin made her laugh as she reached for his hand.

"Feels a little like this just from inside." Tapping two of her fingers lightly against his palm to demonstrate, Olivia shook her head and continued to smile warmly. "And no, it doesn't hurt, gets a little uncomfortable towards the end, but it never causes any real pain. But I'm sure you didn't come down here to hear about my baby."

He dropped his hands back to his lap and clasped them together nervously. "I hope you don't mind me bothering you like this, but I really needed a woman to talk to."

Olivia raised an eyebrow curiously. "Last I checked, I fit that description. I'll promise not to let Gregory Junior listen in too much if that makes you feel better."

Poor Casey's face just got more red. "I- uh-" He dropped his gaze to the floor and stuffed his hand into his suit pocket. Opening the little velvet box, he showed her the diamond ring it had taken him hours of agonizing to decide on.

"Oh Casey-" Olivia took the box from his hand and felt her heart melt. "You're going to ask Heather to marry you?"

Standing up from his chair, he paced to the window, running a hand nervously through his hair. "I've been practicing in front of the mirror, with Michael and Mark, but I needed a woman. I mean, I don't know how they, women, think and Michael and Mark don't have a clue either, and if I get nervous just talking to you, how am I ever going to bring it up with Heather?"

Olivia patted the chair in front of her and gave him a sympathetic smile. "You should have seen Gregory-" As the memory resurfaced she looked through Casey's adorable case of nerves and saw a very young, very nervous lawyer in front of her instead. "Or me for that matter. I'm sure you'll be fine."

"Easy for you to say, I bet Gregory had something so perfect he didn't even give you a chance to say no." Finally returning to his chair, he pointed to her stunning engagement ring. "He'd have to be rather confident to buy you something like that."

"Confidence has never been a problem for Gregory." Olivia told him with a knowing smile. "But I would have said yes if he proposed with a piece of string." She lowered her feet to the floor and she twisted her engagement ring off her finger. "Why don't you take this and practice with me. I promise to do my best impression of a young woman in love."

He chuckled softly and felt the warmth of her hand in metal band of her ring as he took it. "I really appreciate this."

Waving off his thanks, Olivia put her hands on her knees and waited for Casey to collect himself. "Oh don't thank me, this is kind of fun. It's been ages since I was proposed too, not that you're allowed to tell anyone just how long that is."

Gregory paused outside Olivia's door on his way back to his office. The contraband coffee in his hand reminded him that he couldn't visit her with it. Listening Olivia laughing in response to something Casey said, he decided to wait, drink his coffee and hear her story.

"It's been, god, twenty-two years since I got married." Olivia began softly. "I was so young and so madly in love with Gregory. The day he proposed to me was the first day of my life where I really thought about the future, or even had a future."

She paused and he could hear her suit rustle as she fidgeted in her chair. "The future had always been this big dark void, but when Gregory looked at me and talked about how wonderful he our life was going to be together, I believed. Not just in him, but in myself."

He could sense the way her eyes were filling up with tears, hear the way her voice caught in her throat as she continued. "And it was wonderful. Absolutely wonderful."

"What did he do?" Casey wondered, trying to think of something Gregory Richards would consider good enough to use as a proposal.

"He tricked me." Olivia announced cheerfully. "Had me entirely fooled. Don't know how long it must have taken to set it up, or how many people he must have had involved in it."

Even through the door, Gregory could hear her enthusiasm, sense the way her face lit up with pride. It was that passion that drew him to little Olivia Blake, her enthusiasm for life was what he needed when he was young and shut off from his own emotions. When he was cold, she'd been on fire. She let him have it when she was angry with him and sought him out to hold her when she was afraid. He needed that example, desperately needed her honesty and her trust because when he opened his heart to her, Olivia wanted to know what he held there.

* * *

_The house at One Ocean Avenue was covered with lights, draped with tiny white lights like a hundred fallen stars. Music echoed out onto the street from the party within. Gregory pulled his car up into the driveway, slipping the little black convertible up to right in front of the house._

_"I thought we'd have to park halfway down the street. Look at all these cars!" Olivia tossed her purse over her shoulder and turned to him with a nervous smile. "But, I suppose the guest of honor has to expect some special treatment doesn't he?"_

_"This party isn't just about me Liv, a lot of people in the firm worked on this trial." Jumping out of the car, he opened her door and gave her a hand up out of the convertible. "And I'm afraid with you on my arm, in that dress-" He looked down the deep red silk of her clingy cocktail dress with great appreciate for the figure beneath. "No one's even going to know I'm here."_

_She started towards the door, but he stopped her and pointed to the archway into the garden. "Let's go out here first, I want a moment with you before I have to share you with a room full of lawyers all starved for beauty such as yours."_

_The hint of a blush lit across her cheekbones but she giggled and followed him into the garden. "There's only one lawyer I'm interested in."_

_Gregory stopped in front of a glass table on the patio, picking up a little silver lighter he started on the candles. "We'll get some light here." His work with the candle illuminated a bottle of champagne and two glasses on the table. He undid the gold foil at the top of the bottle and started working on the cork._

_Olivia's attention was captivated by the crowd of elegantly dressed people inside the beautiful house. Through the patio doors she could look in on high society of Sunset Beach. She sighed weakly, trying not to let herself think that she was where she'd always been, looking in at the people who mattered. She heard the champagne cork pop, and the hiss of bubbles as Gregory poured it out into the flutes he had waiting for them._

_"What do you think of the house darling?" Gregory cleared his throat and tapped her with the base of the champagne flute. "Do you like it?"_

_Olivia started as he touched her and turned around with that radiant smile. "Oh it's lovely, just imagine how gorgeous the view must be from that balcony when the sun goes down." She took a sip of the champagne and felt the bubbles tickle her nose. "Remind me to complement our hosts."_

_He clinked their glasses together and caressed the thin gold bracelet on her wrist. "I'm sure they'll hear it all the time, just look at that ocean, right there at the end of the garden."_

_"Doesn't all this make you think about having a house someday?" She turned her hand around and caught hold of his. "Maybe host a few parties of your own?"_

_"Funny you should mention that." Gregory took their glasses and set them carefully on the table, wouldn't do to let Olivia shatter hers all over the beautiful stone terrace. Taking her left hand with one of his hands, the other disappeared into his pocket._

_As he sank to one knee, her first thought was that he had dropped something. "Be careful darling, you'll get your suit all dirty." Her right hand closed down onto his shoulder protectively, but as soon as she saw the flash of light from the diamond in his hand she couldn't move._

_"Olivia- Liv, you know how much I like to make plans. I've been thinking about the future lately, and the more I think, all I think about is you." Her hand went to her mouth, holding in her gasp of shock._

_"Oh darling." She would have continued, but Gregory jumped up to his feet and hushed her._

_"if you don't let me finish now, I'm never going to get this out." He took her hand and slipped the glittering diamond on her finger. "I love you Olivia. More than I thought I could ever care about anyone. I want you to marry me. You're the best person, the most wonderful woman I've ever known. I don't know if I deserve you, but I need you. Your love, your passion and your warmth- My life needs you in it." Gregory caught the tear in her eye before it got past her lashes. "And I'd like to start my life, right now."_

_"Gregory-" The ring was impossibly cold and heavy on her hand. Her heart was pounding in her chest, it was all she could do to stare at him dumbly. "Are you sure you want me?"_

_"I love you." Holding her hand tightly, Gregory kept her from trying to take the ring off. "So yes, Liv, you're exactly what I want." He cupped her chin and soaked up the adoration in her eyes. "Assuming you'll have me."_

_Olivia nodded and threw herself into his arms. "I love you."_

_Gregory started to laugh, mingling relief and the incredible feeling of euphoria as he wrapped his arms around her back. "I'm taking that as a yes."

* * *

_

"Then what happened?" Casey sat up from resting his elbows on his knees. "How was the party?"

"A blur." Olivia dug in one of her desk drawers and pulled out a stack of shortbread cookies. "It wasn't until after he announced to the entire party that I'd agreed to marry him that Gregory told me who the hosts of the party were."

"And who was that?" Casey prompted as she bit into a cookie.

She swallowed her bite and cleaned the crumbs off her mouth with her hand. "We were, Gregory and I. He was so certain I'd say yes that he bought the house for us and threw the party to announce our engagement."

Whistling, Casey stared at her in disbelief. "He bought a house and threw a party before he even asked you?"

"Yes he did." Olivia started her second cookie and nodded happily. "You were the one who brought up how confident he's always been."

"I suppose, but buying you a house. That's something special." Casey grinned knowingly but shook his head as she offered him one of her cookies. "Does he know you've been hiding those in there?"

"Nope." Olivia rested an elbow on the desk and smiled impishly. "He worries I'm going to ruin my dinner."

"Seems to be no chance of that." Casey commented wryly into the back of his hand. "I think I'm going to get a cup. You want some coffee with those?"

Olivia shook her head at him and gave him a melancholy smile. "I would absolutely love some coffee, but it'll be a few months before I can have that again. Thank you anyway."

In the hallway, Gregory watched patiently as Casey emerged from the office. They shared a look as Casey examined the nearly empty coffee cup in Gregory's hand. "Thought that was forbidden." The younger man whispered as Gregory finished it and tucked it away in a lower part of the cabinet.

"She hides how much her back hurts, I hide my coffee." Gregory patted Casey's shoulder. "But, I have to admit I overheard you proposing to my wife and I hope you understand I can't let you steal her from me."

Casey grinned and fidgeted with the ring box in his pocket. "She's been a huge help."

"She's really rather fond of you." Gregory offered as he started towards the door to her office. "And it seems I'll have to stop teasing her about the cookies if she's just going to hide them anyway."

Casey poured himself some coffee and stirred it idly. "It's really good for her, having St. John gone, isn't it? She seems happier, like some weight's been lifted."

"With a man like that, it was only a matter of time before someone got rid of him." Gregory felt the flash of anger resurface as he pictured Cole's arrogant face. "But I agree with you. Knowing that man is out of the way is the best thing to happen to us since we found out Olivia was pregnant."

Taking a sip of coffee, Casey looked over Gregory with renewed appreciation. "Buying the house and throwing a party was-"

"The act of a rash, conceited and arrogant young man who got very lucky that his feelings were reciprocated." Gregory finished with a chuckle. "I do own a few choice pieces of property on the shoreline, if you don't have a place picked out yet, it would save me the trouble of letting Olivia buy you a wedding present."

Nearly dropping his coffee, Casey had the sudden image of carrying Heather over the threshold of some mansion and he had to admit he didn't half mind the idea. "Let me ask her first, I don't think I'm quite the type-"

"She'll say yes." Gregory promised with iron certainty. "And I'm sure Olivia told you the same thing."

"She did." He swirled his coffee and gestured towards Olivia's office door. "Said she knew that 'look'."

"Ah." Watching the younger man sagely, Gregory leaned in. "That she does."


	68. black and blue

"Oh darling, you shouldn't have." Olivia stood blushing in front of the mirror as Gregory carefully clipped the glistening diamond chandelier earrings he'd surprised her with to her ears. "They're just stunning." From a single large stone at her earlobes they trailed down in two long strands of brilliant diamonds to her shoulders.

He returned to the blue velvet jewelry box and removed the curling diamond bracelet that matched. Gregory took her wrist and closed the clasp around it. "I'm just glad Bette let it slip that your dress covered up your neck, otherwise I might have showed up with a necklace you couldn't wear."

Olivia laughed tenderly as she looked over the new bracelet with an admiring eye. "I'll have to thank Bette for saving you from that nasty little dilemma."

He ran his hands over the shoulders her black silk dress left bare as it crept around her neck in a halter and smiled at the tiny sparks of light from her earrings. "I was afraid I wasn't going to like this dress when you describe it to me, but it certainly has it's advantages." Running nimble fingers over the bare skin of her back, he has to remind himself that the skin is newly healed.

Olivia snuck her hands around his shoulders and kissed his cheek. "You just like that the zipper's fairly short."

Bursting into good-natured laughter Gregory moved the tail of her earring to nuzzle her neck. "I did notice that."

Leaning back against the wall with a sigh, Olivia broke the mood of the moment. "Oh, Gregory, would you do me a favor? I left my purse on the bed upstairs-"

Lowering his head in mock disappointment, Gregory nodded and slipped out of her arms. "I'll be right down."

"Thank you darling!" She called up after him as he trudged up the stairs to the master bedroom.

Her purse was not on the bed as he flicked on the light. Instead he found it on the desk. On top to black beads was a little silver bag with a note. "You're not the only one who can set up a surprise-" Gregory read aloud as he grabbed the little silver bag and opened the drawstring.

A pair of cufflinks fell out into his palm, brilliant silver welsh knots, incredibly intricate but full of strength. The smooth keeper end on one had his initials, an entwined GR. He expected the same on the other, but he had to hold it up to read the tiny script. "All my love, Liv." His heart melted away in his chest, filling it with warmth. He removed his ordinary blue ones and set them aside.

Gregory was still securing them in his cuffs when she caught his attention in the doorway.

"Oh I'm sorry, was it not on the bed?" Her polite expression was ruined by her wicked smile.

Holding up his wrists to her as he tossed her purse to her, Gregory replied with a passionate kiss that pressed her back against the door. The knob clanked against the wall as he expressed his gratitude.

More than a little breathless, Olivia let him sweep her towards the bed. "I guess you found your surprise."

Deciding in a moment that he'd rather have her than be on time for the police ball Gregory pulled her down as he sat on the corner of the bed. "And that zipper." His fingers chased down the flesh the zipper left bare as she started on the buttons of his blue satin tuxedo vest.

He reached up to undo the black silk around her neck but stopped suddenly when she coughed. Olivia's gaze was towards the door as well she turned around quickly and forced him to redo her zipper. Gregory sighed in frustration and waved his daughter into the room. "Oh sweetheart, you look great."

For the black and blue ball, a SBPD annual tradition, Caitlin had chosen a gown of incredibly pale blue. She had become so withdrawn since Julian had disappeared on her. Only Mark's innocent request that she accompany him to the party had drug her out of her shell at all in the past few weeks.

She entered shyly, stopping out of reach only a few paces in. "Are you two ready to go?"

Olivia tried not to blush and looked to Gregory for help. "Yes darling, of course, we were just-"

He finished her zipper and wound his hand around to her stomach. "Waiting for your brother to move, but it doesn't look like he's going to grace us tonight." Gregory kissed her neck, whispering as he got over his disappointment. "I love you too."

Olivia took his hand and stood up from the bed as the silk train of her dress swished around her ankles. "Thanks for coming to get us Cate. I'm afraid your father and I just loose track of time."

Buttoning his vest up again, Gregory took her arm as they started down the stairs. "Where are we meeting that young man- the DJ?"

"At the party." Caitlin clarified softly as she stood at the door and waited. "His name's mark, mom gave him a job at the radio station, remember?"

Olivia nodded quickly at her husband, coaxing him to agree as she straightened his bow tie.

Gregory took her fingers away from his tie, taking her wrist and enjoying the feel of her bracelet warmed by her skin. "That nice young man who works for Ben?"

"Yes." Caitlin paused and tried to think of something to add to the description of her date. "He's a friend of Casey's too. Lives down in the beach house with the funny name." Climbing into the car in the front next to Tim, Caitlin let the conversation fall away.

Julian's disappearance had hurt her. Her parents concluded with a shared look. "She's young, beautiful, and ultimately resilient." Gregory hoped as he toyed with the folds of silk on the seat of the car next to him.

"Caitlin will move on." Olivia replied as she smiled at his boyish fidgeting. "He was just a Deschanel after all. God knows they can't spend more than a few months with the same woman. It's not in their blood."

* * *

AJ rested his drink on the railing and peered down over the ocean. The skin of water on the glass of bourbon left a ring of wetness on the graying wood. The back deck was the perfect place for a party. Paper lanterns and strings of lights graced the deck and lit the stage for the upcoming police department gala.

Gregory Richards, the new District Attorney, was of course the guest of honor. It seemed that everywhere he looked, Gregory was the man of the hour in Sunset Beach. His company was on top, the hospital project was running full speed ahead now that the nasty little problem with his son's dead body was cleared up and his darling wife was pregnant. Miraculously, and not without reservation at her age, but none the less, it seemed everything was coming up in Gregory's favor.

Even the Police Department was falling over itself to be good to him. Making him the guest of honor and black and blue ball was like the antelope deciding they wanted the lion at their picnic. His glass was empty and he waved at the bartenders who were setting up until one of them came over to refill his glass.

Taking a long swig of fortifying bourbon, AJ set his glass down on the railing again and knelt down to peer beneath at the supports of the deck. Everything seemed secure, as sturdy as the day it was built. His mind's eye pointed out the hidden flaws in the structure. The deck was held together by splinters and a prayer. AJ had never had any faith in prayer.

He stood up and toasted the black ocean below. "This is for you son and trust me. This is just the beginning of my revenge."

* * *

"Congratulations." Olivia offered as she smiled at Heather's outstretched hand and new diamond ring. "I can't think of better news. Did you set a date?"

"January- sometime." Heather replied with a delirious smile. "It's the slowest time at the Marine Center and I think we'll be able to get away for a whole month."

Ricardo gave Casey a wink from the other side of the circle of conversation. "A whole month? Where are you going to go?"

Heather and Casey looked at each other quietly with that fresh innocence in their eyes. "We haven't decided yet." Heather admitted with a happy sigh. "It really doesn't matter does it?"

"Paula's always wanted to go to Europe." Ricardo offered as he took a sip of his drink. "Where did Gregory take you Olivia? I'm sure our new DA had somewhere incredibly romantic to take you."

Olivia raised an eyebrow and took a fresh glass of water from Casey as he thoughtfully handed it across to her. "Italy- Gregory took me to Raspuglia, near Florence and we rented this lovely little villa. It was terribly romantic and something I'll remember, always."

Ricardo ducked out of the conversation, letting it turn to tales of

romantic gestures and breakfasts in bed. Gregory was over by the stage, discussing the finer points of some epic legal battle with Laura Fitzgerald.

"Once you started quoting Matheson v Illinois, I knew I had you." Laura chuckled as she ducked away to refresh her coffee and procure some of the cake on the refreshment table.

"You did-" Gregory agreed as he snagged one of the little blue plates of cake for his wife. "I just wasn't going down without a fight."

"That's why you'll make such a good DA, you'll finally put that bulldog fight in you to good use." Laura brushed the shoulder of his tuxedo and grinned impishly. "Besides, it's about time we had a handsome one. I'm happy Olivia's letting you reproduce, we could use a little more of your deadly looks and charm."

Gregory returned her wicked smile and glanced over at his wife. She was explaining something about Casey that was turning his face to deep red as the group of youngsters around them laughed and urged her to continue her story.

"I certainly envy you, returning that merriment when I'm stuck with-" She nodded towards the Police Commissioner and waved at the bartender. "Irish this up for an old woman won't you? I need a little fortification before I get my ear bent by our dear Commissioner Franklin. I swear that man never gives up. He'll be after me in the home and I'll have to beat him off with a cane."

Grumbling to her coffee as she went, Gregory watched her retreating back with amusement before turning around to face Ricardo. The detective was smiling at him, but in the way Gregory smiled at uncooperative witnesses. He tucked the fork into his suit pocket along with a napkin. "What can I do for you detective?"

"Oh please, call me Ricardo, we're on the same side now." Ricardo's easy wave of his hand was the warning shot.

"All right," Gregory gestured towards Olivia with his plate of cake and started towards her across the deck. "I promised my wife this half an hour ago and I'm concerned that the party guests might be in danger if she doesn't get her cake soon."

Ricardo searched Gregory's cold eyes for that hint of humanity that only appeared when he talked about his wife. It was in the forefront tonight, along with a softening of his jaw that belied concern and caring. Years as a police officer had allowed him to study the best and worst of humanity but Gregory Richards remained an enigma.

"Your wife was telling us about your honeymoon in Italy." Ricardo was baiting his trap but Gregory had no reason to be suspicious. "Sounds like she had a hell of a time."

Gregory paused, giving Ricardo a curious look before he started walking again. "We both did."

"Do you have family there?" He took a sip of his beer and shrugged. "I've heard Raspuglia is near impossible to find a rental in unless you have connections."

Licking his lips as he realized he'd be led into a corner, Gregory deciding to give the good detective just what he'd been looking for. "I have family in the area. They helped me with the reservations."

Leaving the detective to muse over that thought, Gregory surprised Olivia with the cake and a kiss on her cheek. "Sorry it took me so long."

"I'll forgive you because you have cake." She teased as she fished the fork out of his tuxedo pocket. "Now tell Heather how you bought me a house-" Olivia licked frosting off her fork and nudged him with her elbow. "As only you can darling."

Across the deck, Caitlin leaned out and watched the waves of the Pacific below her rise and fall. Mark surprised her as he returned with a cake and a frilly cocktail, completely with an umbrella. "Sex on the beach, just like you asked." He followed her gaze and grinned. "Isn't it beautiful at night?"

"Lovely." Caitlin agreed as she moved the umbrella to eat the cherry out of her drink.

"Swim much?" Mark asked as he demolished his piece of cake.

"Oh all the time when I was little." Her smiles were all far away tonight and Mark's heart went out to her. The high profile disappearance of her last boyfriend had really damaged her confidence. "Dad loves to swim, Sean too. Mom's a little wary of the water. She didn't even know how to swim until dad taught her."

Glancing over at Mr. and Mrs. Richards laughing with Casey and his fiancee, Mark tried to imagine Mr. Richards teaching anyone how to swim, but he couldn't get the suit out of the his head. He wasn't sure if he'd ever seen Gregory out of a suit.

"Mom did take us swimming, but she got in trouble once. After that she didn't go in the water without my father around." She ate the orange slice and dropped the rind down to the ocean below.

Mark tilted his head and leaned back against the railing. "What happened?"

Caitlin watched the dark water and sighed. "I was seven- Sean and I were swimming, he was really little and he always wanted to do what I was doing. You can't tell him this, he'll get embarrassed."

Putting a finger over his lips, Mark shook his head. "Stays between you and me."

Using her straw to stir the ice and splash around the pink cocktail, Caitlin fell into her story. "It was really wavy and there was a rip tide. Sean and I were both pulled way out and mom came in and got us. I remember crawling up on the beach with Sean. He was coughing and crying and he wanted mom, like he always did. But she didn't come in out of the water."

The memory of her little brother's tears tugged at her heart even years later. "I didn't know what to do so I ran in to get my father. I don't know how he got the story out of me, I was crying to hard to talk and I felt so bad for getting water all over the carpet in his study."

Mark laughed softly and touched her shoulder. "You felt bad?"

"You don't know how sacred his study was. It was like church." Caitlin joined his laughter. "I guess it's silly that I remember feeling bad."

"Oh no, being little's like that." Reassuring her with a winning smile, Mark waited for the rest of the story. "You remember strange things. What happened to your mom?"

"Dad ran into the water and Sean and I stayed on the beach. He didn't even think, he just ran into the water." That she remembered most vividly. Her parents usually ignored each other. Her father stayed in his study and her mother wandered the house drinking until the pain went away.

She still remembered the look on his face as he pulled her mother up on the beach. The way he'd pushed her away and told her to take Sean into the house. She looked over her shoulder while her mother vomited up sea water. Watched from the hallway as he carried her inside and put her on the bed and wondered why her father wasn't angry. He was always angry when he had to carry Olivia upstairs, but that day was different.

That day she'd snuck into her bedroom to talk to her daddy and found him lying in the bed with her mother. They hadn't heard her come in, but she could tell her father was crying. Her father never cried and she'd run away frightened.

Life went back to normal once her mother was better. Her parents avoided each other. Daddy let her play in his study again.

"Really freaked her out." She slurped the end of her drink and set it down on the railing. "We didn't go in the ocean again without dad along."

"Looks like they've finally worked things out." Mark pointed as Mr. Richards licked a trace of frosting off the corner of Mrs. Richards' mouth. "Ben says your dad's giving him the CEO job at Liberty, your dad wants more time to spend with your mom and the baby. Seems real sweet of him to me."

Caitlin felt her stomach twist. Gregory wouldn't pass off his responsibilities like that. Would he? Was this new brat that important? She shuddered and caught Mark's arm to drag him towards the bar. "Come on, let's get another drink. I'm sure you have something else you can expose me too."

Neither of them noticed the creak of the railing as they left it or the sway of the deck beneath their feet. Mark and Caitlin didn't get a chance to reach the bar as Ricardo hit his glass with his fork to get everyone's attention.

"All right everyone, it's time to toast our guest of honor." Ricardo announced with a grin. "If you'd let him up to the stage, I think we'll be able to coax a speech out of him." The crowd parted, moving back towards the railing to let Gregory up towards the stage. Gregory turned around to face the crowd, zeroing in on his wife's face.

The wood of the deck moaned, like a great tree falling in the woods. A murmur of surprise went through the crowd, but it barely had time to register before chaos erupted. The entire side of the deck collapsed with a crash like a clap of thunder but even that noise was drowned out by the screams of shock and terror.

Leaving them in darkness, the elegant hanging lights died away and the ocean swallowed it all in a plume of spray.


	69. going under

_Olivia dug her feet into the sand and watched her babies play in the surf. Their little blonde heads bobbed in the waves as they giggled and screamed in delight. She couldn't share their joy because her mind kept going back to her fight with Gregory._

_They hadn't even made it to lunch without arguing. Didn't matter what they fought about anymore. They screamed at each other because they had forgot what else they did. It was all they had left, but they attacked it with the same passion they did the rest of their relationship._

_Sighing heavily, Olivia waved at Sean, smiling as he attacked the waves with his chubby little hands. At least her children lived in the eye of the storm. Her little angels thrived there. Thinking of her babies reminded her that the fight that morning hadn't been a petty little battle. It had ripped into her heart, more than she could afford to admit without losing herself._

_It was wrong to bring it up. She had been so stupid, but the morning had been going so well. Gregory had kissed her when he brought her coffee, stroked her foot as he read the paper. It was like things were before. When they loved each other. She hadn't meant to bring it up, it just slipped out._

_"Darling, do you ever think about having another baby?"_

_After it was said, there was no turning back. Gregory had exploded. He'd turned on her, bringing down that wall and going straight for her jugular. Even after she was crying he hadn't let up. It wasn't until Sean toddled in and asked innocently why they were yelling that Gregory had turned away and locked himself in his study._

_Even Caitlin hadn't been able to get him out to the beach with her and the children. He'd told her he had too much work, but Olivia knew better. Gregory hated her that much. He couldn't imagine having another child with her because he couldn't stand to look at her. He was most likely filing for divorce right now. Her stomach knotted up and she suddenly felt trapped even though she was outside on the beach._

_She should leave, go inside pack up and leave. Caitlin giggled and scrambled up on the sand before running back into the water with a shout of glee. But she couldn't go. She couldn't leave her babies and she couldn't take them away from Gregory. Gregory may not love her, but he loved his children._

_Caitlin screamed and she was no longer screaming in joy. Something was wrong. Olivia was immediately knocked out of her reverie. She looked for the two little blond heads, but they were gone. her blood went cold, her heart leapt into her throat. Sean was crying, Caitlin was screaming for help._

_Olivia ripped off the sarong that covered her legs and ran into the water. She didn't think that the water was rough, or that she hadn't even seem her babies. It didn't cross her mind that she wasn't a strong swimmer, or that being alone in the water still brought back childhood nightmares. She had to get to her children._

_The ocean was warm but the waves had a countercurrent she had to fight it to reach her children. They were still crying, thank god they were still crying so she had something to zero in on. She caught Caitlin's arm first, pulling her towards her. Olivia reached out as far as she could and caught Sean's arm. Another wave crashed over her head pulled her feet out from under her. When the wave abated she swam for shore as hard as she could._

_Sean and Caitlin held on they were terrified but they held on. She got her feet down, lunged forward with the next wave and they were there. Caitlin was crawling up onto the beach, Sean followed her and she helped him, dragging her little brother up to the sand. Olivia put her feet down against the water that pulled her out, exhausted but with enough adrenaline to carry her out to the beach._

_But she didn't get up. She didn't stand up, she felt the water pull her out and she left go. The warm water blanket her, soothing the emptiness Gregory left behind. She could just close her eyes and everything would be all right._

_Except for the burning in her lungs. Olivia's eyes flashed open beneath the surface and the salt seared into her eyes. She choked, her body desperate to breath in but her mind insisting that she wait for her head to break the surface. The warmth of the water was demanding instead of comforting. The waves crashed over her head and the cradling sensation of the current was replace by the single desperate thought that she was going to die out here. Alone._

_On the heels of that horrid thought came the surprising response that she didn't want to die. Choking on sea water as her head broke the surface, Olivia knew she didn't want to slip beneath the waves and disappear, because it wasn't safe. It was pain. Her throat already hurt from the caustic water and she was gasping for breath as she tried to find her stroke. What had Gregory told her about being pulled out into the ocean?_

_Thinking about Gregory brought up the little voice that insisted he hated her so much that he wouldn't even grieve her death. The same voice that told her she'd never remember what he said, and even if she did, she didn't have the strength to reach the shore again. The last thing her children would remember of their mother was that she had disappeared into the sea._

_She was still swimming, but her arms were burning, her legs were exhausted and she wasn't making any headway. When she actually saw it between wave crests the shore only got farther and farther away. She'd never reach it. Sick terror gave way to the even bleaker feeling of failure. She had let her tendency for self-destruction guide her at a crucial moment and she was lost._

_Olivia went under again when a wave crashed over her head. She fought for the surface again, but the more she fought the more her ears screamed in pain. It wasn't until she opened her eyes to the stinging darkness that she realized she'd been swimming the wrong way. The wave had turned her around and she'd swam towards the bottom._

_Where was the surface? She had to find the light and swim towards it. Her mouth opened before she broke the surface, a coughing fit doubled up her body and she was gasping when her head finally broke the surface. Olivia swallowed one mouthful, then another of brackish salt water. Her lungs ached with the abuse, her throat burned from the water, and now she couldn't see shore at all._

_If this was a rip tide, she could be nearly a mile from shore. Her bloated body would be found by fishermen in a drag net. If they found her at all. That little voice insisted it would serve her right. Save her the pain of her loveless marriage. Surely she'd trade physical discomfort for years of destruction at the hands of her husband?_

_She was under the surface again, the silver of the air taunted her reminding her that she wasn't good enough. Her lungs shot pain through her chest as if she had filled them with needles. She kicked, fighting for the surface but it just got farther away. Her vision was starting to black out and Olivia could taste the saltwater in her mouth again. This time she couldn't stop choking as it poured into her throat. Her eyes were failing her, her limbs were thrashing and refusing to carry her up._

_Something caught her arm. Something hard and strong that moved to catch her other arm. The touch made her wonder if a shark or other terrible sea creature had taken this moment to feast on her dying body._

_They were moving up, it intended to devour her on the surface. It grabbed her neck and roughly pulled her head up against its' body. It was talking to her but its voice was lost in the water. It was opening her mouth and breathing into her lungs. She was coughing too hard to catch her breath, swallowing the water in a desperate attempt to keep it out of her already tortured lungs._

_It was holding her head above the water. It was forcing her to breath through the pain in her chest. It was Gregory._

_He pulled through the water, dragging her behind him with smooth efficiency. She was drifting in and out, sometimes her had to stop and treat water until he was sure she was still breathing. After an eternity of fighting the water, Gregory won. He felt his feet touch sand beneath the water. The waves that crashed around them were curling up onto the beach. Olivia was dead weight on his right side, he couldn't even feel her coughing anymore._

_He stumbled, half running, half swimming through the rest of the water as he pulled her up to the sand. Her eyes were closed, lips blue from lack of oxygen. Caitlin and Sean rushed over to them, sobbing in terror, but he pushed them away._

_Gregory caught Caitlin's shoulders and he shook her. "Go inside, take your brother and go inside."_

_She shook her head, unwilling to leave him and her mother._

_He pushed her towards Sean, using the sternest tone he dared. "Go inside, NOW!"_

_Catilin jumped back as if he had hit her. Grabbing Sean, they ran for the house. Daddy never yelled at them, and they were nearly as shocked by that as they were terrified that their parents had disappeared._

_Gregory hauled his wife up to her side, opening her mouth as sea water cascaded down her cheek towards the sand. He put his ear to her chest, begging that there was still something left to hear. She had a heartbeat. It throbbed against her ribs and he could feel her pulse in her neck. At least that was strong, but she wasn't breathing. That reflex had shut down._

_Tilting back her head, Gregory opened her mouth and breathed for her, forcing her lungs to fill. The air slipped out nearly as soon as it was in, and he tried again. When that failed her slapped her face, striking her hard enough to leave a pale pink mark on her sodden white cheek._

_"Goddammit Olivia, breath!" He tilted her chin, forcing air into her lungs as if he could force the will to live along with it._

_He cupped her chin and lowered his mouth to hers. "Please-" He begged before closing their lips together. Her chest expanded once more and this time, finally, her chest moved of its own accord. Olivia's stillness broke into a fit of coughing. Gregory moved quickly to roll her onto her side, water came pouring out of her mouth._

_As soon as she breathed in once on her own she was vomiting the rest of the water from her stomach. Rasping for breath, her nails dug into his arm until he felt blood rise from the wounds. He held her head up over the sand and kept encouraging her to breath. Breathing had never been something she needing coaching for before, but now it was as foreign as his concern._

_When her stomach stopped rebelling she collapsed to the sand. She couldn't stop coughing, it felt as if her lungs were going to try to work their way out of her throat. Gregory was the one who pulled her up, forcing her to sit up so her lungs didn't have to work as hard._

_He'd come in to get her, braved the water that frightened her and come in after her. Pulling her out of the sea as if she were a little girl again. Olivia nearly couldn't believe it. Except for the burning in her chest she could have been in heaven. Being in Gregory's arms again as if he wanted her there was certainly all the eternal reward she needed._

_But Olivia knew her body wouldn't be this angry with her if she was dead. Instead her body was using pain as a punishment, a way to remind her that life was precious indeed. Even if it was hers. Her chest kept heaving, and just as she thought she was gaining control she was vomiting sea water again._

_Gregory was still there. He was still patient with her, shocked into a position as caretaker again. What was it about them that made it impossible for them to him to sit and have a conversation with her, but so easy for him to hold her head when she couldn't hold it up on her own? How could he whisper that everything was all right, that he was here and she was safe now when an hour ago he could have been happy never seeing her again._

_He waited until Olivia seemed better, picked up the brown sarong with it's cream colored flowers and draped it over her shoulders. There wasn't much warmth in the thin cotton, but the gesture warmed her anyway. Her body was weak, exhausted by her ordeal, her legs weren't going to carry her inside, but that didn't bother him._

_Gregory picked her up, cradling her in the moment it took to steady her weight. "I suppose I'll never get you in the water again will I?" He asked her without expecting an answer. "I'm going to have to talk to Caitlin and Sean about rip tides, show them how to swim parallel to the shore until they get out of it. Should be a good lesson for them."_

_He was walking, taking her back up to the house as if nothing had happened. As if she'd just fallen and twisted her ankle instead of letting the ocean pull her life away with the tide. Her eyes, her throat- everything hurt to much to cry but the tears came anyway._

_"I'm sorry." Olivia whispered finally as her first few attempts to speak ended in fits of coughing._

_She missed his reply as she started coughing again. Missed his breathless admission that it wasn't her fault as she struggled against the iron bands around her chest. If he showed her his heart, she'd know his pain. Know the power that agony had over him and realize how much he feared that loss of control. Gregory couldn't show her that. He couldn't let her know how lost he was without her. The mere thought of her death took all the color out of life and he still couldn't tell her._

_He couldn't tell Olivia that he needed her to fight with him, needed the passion she dredged up from him because she was the brush that painted color into his world. Without her grays came and went without his notice. With her he had a reason to see._

_Eventually she fell asleep, too tired to fight him when he stripped her of her swimsuit. Olivia slept while the doctor listened to her chest and promised she'd be fine after she got some rest. Slept on while Gregory crawled into bed next to her and remembered what a miracle it was to share a bed with someone who loved him. He ran slow fingers through her hair, easing out the tangles while his tears fell to the pillow beneath her head._

_He'd done this, Gregory knew. He'd taken so much from her, selfishly keeping the best of her locked away in his heart- he should have seen this. He should have known that someday she wouldn't be able to give any more. Bit by bit he killed the one person he'd ever let in. Took enough of her life from her that she just didn't want to go on, where drowning in the ocean was preferable to living another day with him._

_"I can't let you go, even if you hate me for it-" She coughed in her sleep, fingers clutching his arm in her dreams. "I can't live without you." He was too selfish to let her go and if she wouldn't hate him for it, Gregory would hate himself. That was one emotion he never had any trouble expressing._


	70. stunned

Gregory watched the collapse of the desk in slow motion, the sick kind of slowness that ensured every detail was seared into his mind. Olivia was near the edge, sitting at a little round table with Caitlin and Mark. She stood up when the sound started, looking around in confusion as the solid deck beneath her feet became insubstantial.

The black silk train around her feet fluttered as she started to fall. The deck collapsed away from him, hiding her behind the other elegant people at the party. The screams of surprise and horror were lost in the tremendous bang of the wood against the water.

He ripped his jacket off, dropping it to the edge of the deck that remained. Gregory stripped his blue satin tuxedo vest and left it in a heap over his jacket. Next were his shoes and when the laces wouldn't come undone, he ripped them out. His wallet went into his shoes and he tore off his shirt, tucking his silver cufflinks into his shoes for safe keeping.

Ricardo caught his arm as he went for the edge and Gregory nearly punched him in frustration.

"You can't go in there, you're putting yourself at risk. Rescue workers will be here-"

Gregory shook him off with his eyes gleaming in the darkness like a cornered wolf. His reasons ran through his mind in a blur: Olivia's terrified of the water, she doesn't swim well, she's carrying our baby- but none of those thoughts made it to Ricardo.

All Ricardo got was a glare of defiance before Gregory dove into the dark water. His body complained bitterly as the cold water shot daggers into his flesh. After a moment however, his body started to adapt. Though the waves were high he stroked smoothly through them.

The ocean demanded respect, but Gregory knew how to handle demanding clients. Convince them they were in charge, share the sense of control and work with them. Working with the swell of the water saved his strength. The moon was dark behind a thick cloud and his eyes took awhile to adjust to the soft black of horizon and water. Beyond the splashing of his arms he could hear voices in varying levels of panic. He tuned in on the female voices, listening for familiar pitch. Caitlin and Olivia had both been near the edge of the deck. They'd be farther out.

Caitlin would be fine, he'd taught her how to swim personally. After Olivia's incident he had been careful to make sure both of his children were absolutely safe in the water. His wife had never gotten over her fear of the water. Olivia barely went in the pool unless she knew he was there in the water or on the edge.

He passed countless strangers swimming towards shore. One wave-drenched face stopped, recognizing him. It was Heather, the blonde fiance, she had an unconscious woman in tow.

"Olivia?" He yelled over the din of panicked voices, sirens and waves.

Heather shook her head. "Haven't seen her." She tilted her head towards the open ocean. "Casey might have. He's out farther."

Gregory pressed on, reminding himself that this was what all those mornings swimming laps in the pool were about. He found his stride, breathing easily as he demanded his body save his adrenaline for later. He hadn't even seen her yet. He passed a few more stragglers, clinging to bits of the once magnificent deck of the Deschanel ballroom. Most of them seemed all right, not that he would have stopped for them either way.

The water grew rougher as he got further from shore, surely she wouldn't be this far out. The salt water stung his eyes, but he forced the sensation away. He was in control. Casey was the figure making a neat wake through the water but as soon as he recognized him, Casey shook his head.

"I saw Caitlin, she helped Mark get some people to shore. Olivia should be near here." The lifeguard switched his grip on the injured man he was helping and met Gregory's eyes across the rolling water. "I don't have to tell you it's better to come back alive than die looking for someone."

Gregory didn't answer as he swam past the younger man. Casey hadn't been in love long enough to understand. He had to find Olivia, that was it. That was the only reason to keep swimming. He coasted down the crest of a swell, riding the water down into the trough. At the crest of the next one a lucky shaft of moonlight lit something in the water. Something still that resisted the motion of the water.

Maybe it was fate or his own stubborn determination, but Gregory knew it was her. The rush of the ocean threw them together, crashing his body into hers. His reward for his stubborn refusal to give up, not to Cole, not to chance- never.

She was barely conscious, but her arms went weakly around his neck as she realized he was more than the hallucinations of a waterlogged mind. Gregory ran his hands down her body, performing the double task of searching for injuries and checking to see if she could move in her dress. He reassured her he'd return and dove beneath the surface. The expensive silk of her dress tore along the seam up to her hip with a little encouragement. Her shoes were already gone.

Panic started to set in as she realized where she was. He tightened his arm around her shoulders and tilted her head up towards the sky. Her hand dug nervously into the thin fabric of his undershirt, but Gregory concentrated on his stroke, remembering the lifeguard training he'd undergone just to spite his father so many years ago. Shore always looked farther than it was. If he just kept going, he'd reach it.

Caitlin crawled up on the beach, feeling the harsh sand abrade her soggy skin as the thin fabric of her dress failed. The expensive creation of featherweight tulle was absolutely destroyed. Mark flopped down on the beach at her side. Rescue crews, ambulances, even boats and lights were all mobilized now. Like a line of penguins the black and blue dressed partygoers emerged from the sea. No one seemed seriously hurt. The ambulances disappeared into the night without sirens.

When her breath returned and her legs remember how to hold her up, Caitlin left Mark with a simple apology. "I have to find my parents."

He jumped up too polite to let her search for possible bad news on her own. "I'll go with you."

There was no way to tell Mark that it hurt that her father hadn't looked for her. That he hadn't found her, or shouted for her. She couldn't help worrying that something had happened to him. They walked slowly, holding hands in like shell-shocked children after a bombing. Some of the people were laughing, a few of them were drying off and asking about their drinks. AJ, the man who was running all of this, was no where to be seen.

Mark saw her parents first and pointed helpfully. "There they are, with that doctor."

Her mother was a mess, makeup smeared dark across her face and her hair plastered to her head in a mockery of her elaborate French knot from that afternoon. Blood and dark smudges, more makeup from her mother's face, adorned her father's white undershirt. A young deputy handed him a bundle of jacket, shirt and shoes that he took with a smile and set at his bare feet.

Caitlin wondered what had happened to his socks as she watched her parents trade glances. The doctor, some woman she didn't know, was fussing over the unborn brat her parents loved so much. It didn't matter that a gash on her father's arm was dripping blood slowly onto the neat pile of his clothes at his feet. Or that her father looked small with his wet tuxedo pants clinging to his legs. Her mother came first for the doctor.

She remembered Gregory shoving her away on the beach when she was a child. Heard him tell her for the hundredth time that her mother needed him, and he'd see her when mommy was better. Olivia came first. For some damn reason, no matter what she did, Olivia came first in her father's heart.

Why hadn't she ever seen that before? How had she been so deluded? Her father could never love her, because Olivia had to come first. Cole's death had hurt, stung through to the bottom of her heart and made her cry like she'd never be able to stop. This pain was different. It didn't burn and it didn't tear through her chest. It just settled into the middle of her chest, cold and numbing. It was as if a stone had taken the place of her heart and it was taking all the heat from her body.

She was lost, stunned breathless and for the first time in her life, without guidance. Cole was dead and her father- Caitlin watched him put his dry tuxedo jacket around her mother's shoulders and smile gently as the female doctor started to clean the gash on his arm. Her father could no longer be trusted but even that terrible realization couldn't dislodge the cold from her chest. Caitlin had her pain to keep her company because that couldn't betray her.


	71. fears

Heat snuck up on Sunset Beach, silently attacking every part of the town. The late autumn heat wave had everyone baffled. A cold shower would probably feel wonderful, but Olivia couldn't take off her robe. She couldn't put her head in the water without feeling icy panic close over her. Gregory was back to doing laps every morning. A few days off had let the gash on his arm heal, but as soon as he had permission he was back in the water.

She had always wondered what drove him. After the party, Olivia had a new appreciation for his morning routine. She didn't like thinking about what would have happened without his overprotective streak. She wasn't even sure what she remembered about that night. The whole awful experience was somewhere in the back of her mind, rushing back in flashes of panic whenever she was surrounded by water. Even the shower was terrifying.

The air in the house was hot and still, as if the air conditioning wasn't even on. Caitlin was out again. Olivia hoped she was with someone, her daughter spent all too much time alone lately. Sean was flying home on Thursday and she couldn't be happier at the thought of seeing him again. His recent letters made him sound so mature and so different from the young man who had left just a few months ago.

She rested a hand on her swollen stomach, smiling faintly as she realized her youngest wasn't even visible when he had left. How would he feel when he felt his little brother kick through her skin? Gregory claimed he could feel his son move within her, but Olivia wasn't sure if she believed he felt the baby each time he swore he did. He'd been so involved with the baby this time, sometimes she couldn't help feeling he had some kind of special connection he hadn't shared with her yet.

Her dressing gown stuck to her skin, tempting her to leave it inside. The self-conscious voice in the back of her mind reminded Olivia that the pale linen nightgown she had on beneath it left little to the imagination. It was better to keep the robe on, just in case Gregory wasn't alone on the patio.

He was still swimming, the rhythmic splashing would have been comforting if it wasn't a reminder of water. The heat outside was worse than the house. Even the morning sun was burning down and she didn't want to think of the inevitable heat that afternoon. The water would be cool and caress away the thin skim of sweat coating her skin.

The thought of swimming brought the sensation of cold dark water closing around her head and Olivia shuddered. The splashing of Gregory's morning exercise only added to the residual terror that gave her the nightmares. Cold, dark water crashed around her without end, promising to pull her under and make her disappear. She hadn't told him about the dreams, though it went without saying that he suspected. Even half-asleep, Gregory would remember the way she clung to him when she woke in a panic.

Her back spasmed suddenly, sending a jolt of discomfort up her spine. Olivia caught the back of one of the patio chairs with her hand and it rattled against the glass table. The rhythmic splashing ended with a larger splash. Gregory's hands slapped against the tile around the pool and by the time she caught her breath she could feel his eyes on her from behind.

"I'm all right." Olivia promised him without turning around. "Just surprised me."

The water from his hands sunk through her robe and cooled the angry muscles of her back. "You're always all right." He remarked softly as he lifted her hands from the back of the chair and took them into his. Giving her his arm, Gregory turned the chair with his foot and lowered her into it. "Sit."

"I didn't mean to take you from your swim." She protested, shutting her eyes and concentrating banishing the discomfort in her back.

"What hurts?" He asked as he ignored the wave of that pushed him away. "Your back again?"

"It comes and goes." Olivia opened her eyes and managed the tiniest of smiles for his benefit. "It will pass."

He brushed his hand against her cheek, kneeling down in front of her as he wrapped his towel around his neck. "I'm sorry Liv."

"Of course you are." The sarcasm cheered him almost as much as the smile. "It's easy to be sorry when you can't do anything about it, isn't it?"

Gregory chuckled and started to dry off. "Did you ask Roger about it yesterday at your appointment?"

"No darling," The pain in her back started to ease and she watched as he smoothed the water off his body with the towel. "There was an emergency case and we had to reschedule for tomorrow afternoon."

Her lie was transparent and Gregory stopped pulling on his robe. "That's the third time Roger's had to move back your appointment. How many medical emergencies can there be in a town like Sunset Beach?"

Olivia took a deep breath and straightened up in her chair testing the muscles of her lower back as she struggled for something to say. "It's just because he's in such demand as a surgeon. They want him for everything."

Tying the belt on his blue terry-cloth, Gregory left his towel in a heap on the patio. "You canceled again, didn't you?"

"I only canceled the first time because I was tired. The second time you promised to go with me and got stuck in court." Sighing heavily as she pulled herself to her feet, Olivia turned away from him and headed back inside. "I'll be seeing him tomorrow. I'm not on trial, am I?"

"Hey." Gregory caught her arm. "Where are you going?"

"Back inside out of the sun." Shading her eyes, Olivia retreated towards the shade of the door.

"You came out here to talk to me, didn't you?" When she reached for the patio door, he caught her hand and opened the door for her. "What's on your mind sweetheart?"

"It's not important." Olivia argued as she slipped past his arm into the house. "I was just seeing if you were ready for breakfast."

Gregory followed, leaving the door open behind him to capture what hint of a breeze there was in the already still morning. "Breakfast sounds like a good idea."

Wincing again, her reply was lost to the return of the spasm in her back.

Gregory's hands were quick to catch her, lowering her to the leather sofa. He took her hands away from arms and sat down next to her. "Has this been going on all morning?"

Olivia shook her head, biting her lip as he slipped one hand behind her back. "It started yesterday at the board meeting, I thought I had just been sitting down too long-" Even with tentative pressure, pressing his fingers into the lumbar muscle along her spine drew a sharp gasp of pain. "Gregory that hurts."

"Sit up straight." He ordered as he slipped one knee behind her back to get a better angle. "Now, don't scream. Wouldn't want Rose to think I'm abusing you-" Digging the knuckles of his fist into the taunt muscles of her back before she had time to tense further, Gregory felt her anguished cry lance through his chest.

Her fingers clenched into his knee. "Dammit Gregory- what do you think you're doing-" Suddenly the hiss of pain vanished from her voice.

"There." He whispered proudly over her shoulder. She leaned back into his arms, forgetting about breakfast for the moment. "Better, isn't it?"

His smugness was comforting. As long as Gregory could still fix everything, he was content. He settled them both into the sofa. Her head rested on the vee of the open neck of his robe. "You should have told me when your back hurt yesterday. I would have ended the meeting. You didn't need to be there, the whole meeting was just a formality anyway. Ben Evans and I worked everything out."

"I still can't believe you're signing away your responsibilities at the Liberty corporation." Olivia rested her forehead against his chin. "I know Ben's a smart businessman, but I never thought you'd give up control. You built that company. You and Alex and Del-"

"Ben is smart." He agreed with a smile of pride in his protegee. "He'll make the right descisions for the company and I'm counting on you to take care of my- our stock and our vote on the board."

"And you can live in the federal building." Olivia finished softly as he found her hand. "It's a lot more work isn't it? Being District Attorney I mean."

"Certainly more than just a defense attorney." He agreed as he played with her fingers.

"You were never 'just a defense attorney' darling." Olivia corrected firmly and with her own sense of pride in his accomplishments. "You were good enough that Ms Fitzgerald wanted you to succeed her."

Gregory chuckled, remembering a few dozen face-offs with the gray-haired firecracker he was following. "I was a hell of a thorn in her side." Taking a new position wasn't the bulk of his reasons for cutting back at Liberty and he realized she needed to know that. After a pause he squeezed her fingers. "I didn't just want more time at the Federal Building. I wanted more time with you Liv."

She sat up in confusion, disturbing their position on the sofa. "You see me twenty, thirty times a day when I bother you with press releases and stock quotes. How can you need more time?"

Gregory rested his hands on his knees and smiled at the floor. "I see you in your business suits. I listen to you talk about work and argue with Casey about the SEC and the EPA and a thousand other acronyms. I don't see you like this." His arm went around her shoulders, pulling her back into his side. Gregory kissed her temple and brought his free hand to her womb. "It's not the same."

He drummed his fingers over the firmness of her belly and she squirmed as their son responded by jabbing a leg into internal organs.

"Don't do that. She begged, giggling as he waited for the baby to move again. "You'll get him all stirred up and I won't be able eat without getting punched in the stomach."

Gregory drew lazy circles through the fabric of her nightgown. "I like feeling him move."

"You wouldn't if he was moving all of your organs around." Olivia teased as she nuzzled his neck. "If it was your back that hurt. Your body that's out to get you." She shut his mouth with a finger. "But no apologies darling. We were both there when we got into this mess."

He readjusted them again, reaching for the pitcher of water and presenting her with a glass. Olivia closed her eyes as she took a sip and he couldn't help remembering how awfully dizzy the fertility drugs had made her. "Maybe we were both there, but you certainly weren't trying to get, as you so delicately put it, knocked up."

She set down her glass, laughing too hard to drink anymore of it. "No, no but I certainly knew it's always been a side effect of letting you seduce me."

"You did let me, didn't you?" He kissed her, feeling the sweat on her upper lip as their faces touched.

"You're too convincing. I'd need my own law degree to stand up to you." His cheek was still cool from the water outside.

Gregory sighed as he ran his fingers through her hair. "You're the only one I ever lose an argument with. I'd be afraid of you with a law degree."

"You're never afraid." Olivia prodded him gently. "I'm the one who's afraid to take a shower by herself." His concerned expression drew the full explanation out of her. "I can't close my eyes when there's water on my face without feeling like I'm drowning."

That was why she wasn't dressed yet. "Want me to come with you?"

"Yes and no." His fingertips ran over her head, getting lost in the tumble of her hair. Relaxing back into his arms, she tried to explain. "When you're with me I feel safe. I always have." She rested her palm on his chest, feeling the coarse hairs curl beneath her touch. "But I can't shower with you forever."

Gregory nodded, moving her hair over her head playfully. "I suppose it would get difficult to make it to the office on time."

"Yes," Giggling as she agreed, Olivia slipped her fingers into the space between his robe and his chest. "It would be distracting, wouldn't it?"

Kissing her forehead, his fingers agreed with her. "I would never let you drown."

"I know." Olivia whispered back, surprised by the pain in his voice. "I knew you'd find me, I just had to keep my head up until then."

"This time." He corrected bitterly as he remembered pulling her from the water when she hadn't wanted saving. "You knew I'd find you this time."

The silence was nearly as oppressive as the hot, sticky air. "I only wanted to be lost for a moment. I didn't want to die-"

Gregory exhaled sharply, as if the word alone had hurt him.

"I just couldn't get back on my own." Olivia sat up, resting her forehead against his and falling into his eyes. "I would have died if it weren't for you."

His hand cupped her chin, his brown eyes burning into her as he watched the guilt in her face. "I cried. After you fell asleep, I held you and told you everything I couldn't say to you when you were awake." Gregory kissed her, buying himself the moment he needed to keep his tears away. "I loved you, even when I couldn't get past my own fears to show it."

"We were afraid. We both were so afraid after we lost the baby." Olivia found her head on his chest, listening to the slow, steady beat of his heart. "We both were drowning. It just took us until now to get out of the water."

"Now how do we stay out?" Gregory wondered as he ran his hand down her back. "Keep ourselves dry from now on."

"We have to be honest." Olivia offered gently in response. "Stop keeping secrets from each other and share our fears. Even silly things like being nervous about the shower."

"Or my childhood fear of seals?" She started to giggle until she realized he was being serious, mostly. "It was the barking." Gregory volunteered sheepishly. "I thought they were yelling at me and I didn't understand what I had done to make them so angry."

Love welled up at the vulnerability of that admission and Olivia felt his surprise at her tender kiss. "I'll never tell a soul. We'll just never take the baby to Sea World."

"You're making fun of me." He replied with mocking indigence. "And here I am just trying to be honest with you."

Olivia covered his mouth with her hand. "I love you Gregory Richards. Even your fear of seals."

"Good. I'm counting on you to save me from them if we ever have to go on one of those dammed school trips."


	72. hot and dark

Gregory flicked the light switch on and off in annoyance. "Still out."

Olivia set the pair of candles in her hands down on the coffee table and headed for the hall closet. "There must have been some kind of accident at the power station. Did anyone else have power?"

He tossed his cell phone down next to the candles to save the battery. "Roger and Bette don't have power. Ben said it's out at the Deep, the Java Web the Liberty Building- everything. There's a generator going at the hospital and the medical center and SBPD and the National Guard are wandering the streets."

As he took the lighter from her, Olivia set the armful of candles from the closet down on the coffee table. "Are the kids all right?"

"Sean's flight hasn't left England yet and I suspect they'll just hold him over in LA until our airport has power again." Gregory choose two of the larger decorative candles and lit them on the counters surrounding the living room. "Caitlin's at the Deep. Ben's hosting some kind of 'finish the perishables' party and she's with that DJ from the police ball."

He placed a few more candles and watched the sun setting through the patio doors. "She'll be fine. It's good for her to get out and spend some time with people her age. This Mark may be a DJ and a bartender, but Ben likes him." The kettle whistled in the kitchen and he kept up his train of thought through the doorway as he answered the whistle. "Not that Evans has always been a stellar judge of character. He tends to be more forgiving than I would be, but it's certainly a better reference than being AJ's son."

Gregory set her tea on the table in front of her and continued on to the door. Locking it protectively, he looked out over the dark, empty street before returning to perch on the arm of the sofa.

Olivia touched his knee, smiling over the rim of her cup as she blew across the surface of her tea. "Not sitting down isn't going to make the house any safer."

"I just don't like it-"

"When everything doesn't work exactly like it's supposed to." Olivia rested her head against his leg and smiled as he lowered his hand to stroke her hair. "I know darling. I know." She slid across the sofa, making room for him at her side. "But we're all right. We're safe."

At her pleading smile, he sat down next to her, relieved of some of his anxiety as she curled up in his lap. "I'll just feel better when the power comes back on."

Olivia kissed his neck, dragging a finger down his chin. "Don't you find this romantic? Just the two of us, candles and a incredible night?"

"Indian summer." Gregory corrected softly as he realized how warm her skin was under her hair. "I'm sorry the air conditioning is out."

"Oh don't be." She wrapped her fingers around her cup and slipped closer to his chest. "It was a little cold in here earlier when it was working."

"It hasn't been working since this morning." Gregory corrected as he slipped his hand around to her forehead. He kept it there long enough to confirm his suspicions. Her skin was hot and dry, even in the humidity. "Aren't you hot sweetheart?"

"I'm not hot." Olivia protested in confusion as she sat up and reached out to set down her empty tea cup on the table. "I've been cold since dinner."

He caught her shoulders and replaced his hand on her forehead. "You're hot." Gregory flipped his hand over and double-checked her temperature with the back of his hand. "Liv you have a fever!"

Sighing and pulling her head back, Olivia groaned in frustration and batted his hands away. "So what if I do?"

"Why didn't you say something?" Gregory snapped in frustration as

he jumped to his feet. "You can't keep these things from me. We have to go. Now." He jogged to the closet for his car keys. "Get up."

"Where are we going?" Exasperated and tired, she made no effort to get up off the sofa.

Gregory returned with the keys in his hand. He lowered his hands to her and pulled her to her feet. "To the hospital, we have to get you seen by a doctor. You got dumped in the Pacific that's not something we should have taken so lightly."

Olivia immediately sat back down, refusing to give in to his panic. "I'm not going to the hospital."

"Olivia-"

"I'm not going to the hospital." She repeated as she pulled her hands away from his grasp. "You're not thinking."

"You have a fever and I'm the one not thinking?" He argued as he reached for her shoulders to pull her up again.

Slapping his hand she shook her head firmly. "Gregory, I'm not going."

"Yes you are." He hauled her up roughly but she broke his grip just as cruelly.

"No!" Olivia hit his hand away as he reached for her and this time she saw the flash of pain in his eyes. "You're not dragging me across the city just so I can sit in an emergency room full of panicked, crazy people while you panic and get insane."

"But you're sick." Gregory pointed out as she swayed slightly on her feet.

Olivia knew she couldn't argue that point, but she wasn't going to let him get so carried away. "And I'll be worse if you make me sit in a crowded room half the damn night." She pointed out as she sank back down to the sofa. "Don't you see that? God only knows what the baby and I will get exposed to."

Gregory dropped his car keys back on the shelf and conceded her point. "All right. No emergency room." He reached for his abandoned cell.

Pulling her feet up under her, Olivia watched him punch a number angrily into his phone. "Now who are you calling?"

"Roger." Getting to his feet he crossed to the closet in his study as he waited for Roger to pick up. Returning with a blanket, he tucked it around her.

Olivia sighed in resignation and folded her arms across her chest as she pouted. "I'm not leaving the house."

"Don't look at me like that." He touched her chin and met her eyes apologetically. "I won't take you out of the house. Roger's just going to have to make a house call."

He jumped off the sofa as Roger picked up. "Baxter- what are you up to?" Olivia watched him pace and tried not to listen to his concerned banter. "No, no emergency. Olivia's just running a fever." She pulled up the blanket up to her shoulders and leaned back into the sofa.

Gregory ran his hand across her forehead again, trying to judge how warm she actually was. "She hasn't let me take her temperature, yet." Kissing her forehead, he picked up one of the candles and took the phone upstairs. There had to be a thermometer somewhere, they wouldn't have gotten rid of it since Caitlin and Sean were little.

"She's not burning up but I will feel better if you get a look at her." He moved the towels aside, trying to remember where it had ended up the last time Sean had the flu.

"I know she blew off the three appointments you tried to schedule and I'm not blaming you Baxter." He chuckled softly as Roger complained about her We both know how stubborn she is."

There it was in the back corner of the top shelf in the bathroom closet, sitting in a plastic case behind the box of band-aids with dinosaurs on them. Olivia was too sentimental to have gotten rid of them and he smiled involuntarily. She couldn't have known they'd ever need baby things again but for some reason she'd held on everything.

"We'll see you when you can get here." The phone still had a half-charge. Enough to call Roger back if Olivia got any worse. He tucked the thermometer into his breast pocket and left the bathroom. The living room was still lit by the flickering candles in a circle around her. Olivia reached for him, taking his hand as he settled down next to her.

"Did you convince Roger to drop everything and rush over here?" She asked softly as he touched her cheek.

"He said this whole mess could have been avoided if you would have just gone to your appointment the first time." Gregory pulled the thermometer out of his pocket and set it up with a sterile plastic sleeve. He tucked the thermometer under her tongue and shut her mouth around it. "But you don't have to explain. I've been pushing you pretty hard since Cole died. I'm just so happy to have you safe that I've forgotten what he did to you."

Olivia started to explain but he held her mouth shut. "Two minutes. Then you can tell me everything, but until then you'll just have to listen. I apologize for being so insensitive. Of course you're apprehensive about going back to the hospital. Cole's gone but that doesn't take away what happened." He can still see the bloody stripes across her back in his mind's eye but he hides his fear behind concern.

"And I've been so busy with switching sides in the legal arena that I haven't been paying enough attention to you." He explains softly as he checks his watch for the time.

Shaking her head in disagreement is all she could do until he lets her speak again, but Gregory nodded in response. "Yes, I haven't been. I should have realized you were sick before it got this far."

She lowers her head into his hand, expressing her forgiveness in her eyes. He looked down at his watch and smiled gently. "Forty-five seconds. Guess I should think of everything else I want to say while you can't argue with me."

Her chest shook slightly with laughter and Olivia nodded, her blue eyes gleaming in amusement.

"Remember the last time you ran a fever? About six months ago?" He kept his gaze locked on hers, swallowing before making his confession.

Knitting her forehead up in confusion, Olivia nodded again.

"I did that to you." Gregory cupped her left cheek, feeling the dry heat of her skin. "I used a drug called clomiphene. It's a fertility drug."

She started to open her mouth, but remembered the thermometer and shut it again. He could see her mind working as she pulled away from him. Olivia put her feet back on the floor and straightened up to leave the sofa.

He held out his hand for the thermometer and she handed it to him without a word. Gregory tossed the plastic sleeve into the garbage and read the digital screen. 100.8. "You're up over a hundred, but you've always been above average."

The underhanded compliment caught her off-guard and she couldn't help smiling as she turned to him. "You gave me fertility drugs without my permission or my knowledge?" Olivia rested her hands on her stomach thoughtfully without letting much emotion into her expression. "This really is your fault."

"Now I know you're angry with me." Gregory began sheepishly, as he took a few steps towards her. "But I don't think it's good for you to get upset right now."

Olivia felt his hands settle on her shoulders and she turned around and kissed him, startling him so much that he dropped the thermometer. It clattered on the floor by their feet as she released his lips. "I'm not angry."

"You're not?" Gregory ran his hands down her arms and pulled her back down to the sofa. "Sit down. Why aren't you angry?" He retrieved the pale yellow blanket from the floor and tucked it around her body.

Olivia stopped his fussing as she kissed him again. "Because you're sweet."

It was his turn to shake his head. Gregory found the thermometer beneath the edge of the coffee table. "But I took advantage of you. I violated your privacy. I made you ill-"

She started to laugh as he listed all the points against him and her left arm tugged him back to the sofa. "I still love you."

"You always do." Gregory pointed out as he let herself get comfortable before he lowered his arm over her shoulder. "You could at least yell at me."

"Nah." She closed her eyes for a moment and sighed contentedly as his fingers played with the blanket on her shoulder. "You already feel worse than I'd make you. I just don't understand why you didn't just ask me to take the drugs."

"And you would have told me I was insane." He supposed bitterly as he watched a large candle cast shadows on the opposite wall of the living room. "We were barely on speaking terms when I started giving them to you. I couldn't just walk up to you and suggest that we have another child. You would have laughed in my face."

"Oh I wouldn't dare." She teased lightly but they both knew better. "I've wanted another child since Sean was little. You knew that."

Olivia felt his chest flatten as he sighed out his frustration with himself. "I didn't believe it. I'd been so horrible to you, why would you ever consider carrying my child?"

"I love you. That's just something you'll have to get used to." Olivia groaned as he moved her aside to get up.

"I'll be back in a second." Gregory promised as he disappeared into the kitchen. When he returned, he knelt on the floor in front of her, resting his cool hand against her fevered cheek. "Why? Why is it always so easy for you to forgive me?"

"Because it takes too much energy not to love you." Olivia explained as she opened her eyes slowly. "I don't mind having your baby. I'm actually rather flattered that you went to such extreme measures. It's sweet that you wanted a child so much."

Gregory shook his head, amazed that she could still surprise him. "You should be angry."

"You shouldn't worry so much." She sighed as he squeezed her shoulders closer affectionately. "I'm fine. The baby's-"

He smiled softly as she yawned.

"Fine." Olivia finished. "And we love you. Especially when you get all stirred up and overprotective."

"I thought that was annoying." Gregory replied with a smirk as he got up for the shrieking tea kettle and returned with a fresh cup. "Weren't you the one who called me overbearing?"

She sat up to kiss his cheek. "Overbearing can be endearing when I'm tired, cold and achy."

"So I'm allowed to be overbearing when it suits you?" He wondered with an raised eyebrow.

Giggling slightly as she took her tea from his hand, Olivia nodded to her husband. "Now you're starting to get it."

Gregory realized he was trapped. "How do I know when it's expected and when it's annoying?"

She took a sip and grinned wickedly as she hid a yawn behind her hand. "You're the brilliant District Attorney. You'll figure it out."


	73. prodigal son

He snuck out of bed without waking her. Olivia wouldn't be pleased with him when she woke up, but having her son back at home would make up for any frustration she wanted to direct towards him. The streets of Sunset Beach were deserted, Gregory watched the repair trucks from the power company line the sides of the road as he drove to the airport.

As the crisis of blackouts ended, the charming Mr. Deschanel had ridden in on his white horse and bought the power company. Now the new trucks would have to be labeled with a new logo. Deschanel Electric. Gregory turned up long road to the airport, wondering if he should have bought the beleaguered Electric company personally. Though he had no real desire to pick up another business venture, it would have kept AJ from firmly digging his claws into every part of Sunset Beach. Every light switch had AJ's fingers in it now.

Gregory shook his head at the thought and passed the airport security on his way to the arrivals. The 4:11 flight in from San Francisco was on time. The little connecting plane was already disembarking on the asphalt outside the window. A few other stragglers waited around him and the baggage claim, most of them had the same bleary look he was probably sporting. The darkness of early dawn was rarely kind to anyone.

Putting his hands in his pockets, Gregory paced slowly as the carousel started up with a whine. After a few moments luggage started to tumble down to the spinning surface. Sean's one bag was easy to pick out. The fancy Italian leather was nearly too nice for luggage, but his son deserved the best. He grabbed the handles of the satchel and dropped it at his feet. The neat brass nameplate made him smile.

"Sean Richards, One Ocean Avenue, Sunset Beach, California." Sean quoted as he snuck up behind his father. "Something I remember you recommending."

Shrugging, Gregory grinned proudly at his son. "You can always change the address when you get out of school, but I hope you know you'll always have a home here."

"Or wherever you and Mom are." Sean smiled back. "She told me."

"Oh I know." Gregory added as he extended his right hand as he picked up the bag with his left. "I just wanted to make it a united front."

Sean shook his father's hand without hesitation, surprising both men with his certainty. "Not at the airport though, huh?"

Tossing the bag over his shoulder, Gregory shook his head as he led the way to the car. "No, she's been a little tired lately. Thought it would be better if your mother got to sleep in. Sorry about that."

"You've been keeping her busy." Sean agreed as they dumped his stuff into the trunk of the blue Jaguar. Debating his reply for a moment, he decided it was easier just to be honest. "I was kind of surprised when I read that you'd made Mr. Evan's the CEO, even more so when the article said mom was on the board in your position."

Gregory raised an eyebrow as he tossed the keys over the roof to his son. He gestured him over to the driver's side. "I want you to feel the handling on this one. I've been reminded why I keep going back to English cars."

His son's awed expression as he hurried around the hood of the car was priceless.

"I must be slipping if you were only 'kind of' surprised." Gregory pointed out as he settled in on the passenger side. "I was hoping for stunned or shocked at the very least." His deadpan expression made his son burst into laughter.

"I was that too." Sean admitted as he started the engine. He turned to his father with an admiring smile as the car came to life. "It's a good sound."

Chuckling a little in return, Gregory buckled his seat belt and pointed to the parking lot exit. "I assume you know the way home."

"Oh yeah." Sean put the car into gear and made a sweeping curve across the parking lot. "But I hope you don't mind if we take the long way."

Gregory rested his chin on his hand and smiled out the window at the hint of a sunrise. "I promise not to notice any extraneous turns." He waited for Sean's attention to return inside the car before answer his son's questions. "You may not believe me when I say this, but even I can only be in one place at a time. I couldn't attend all those board meetings and still be in court as District Attorney. Your mother was kind enough to assume my board responsibilities and she's been doing an admirable job."

"She likes having something to do, new challenges, I think was what she said in her letter." Sean added as he accelerated into a winding curve along the coast.

"Try accelerating out of the next one." Gregory suggested as he echoed Sean's smile of amusement. "You should feel the way the wheels hug the road." Turning in from the window he dropped his voice a little. "This stays between us, but she told me her 'new challenges' kept her from gaining too much weight."

"That sounds like mom." Sean laughed as he tried to picture how much different his mother would look now that she was nearing the beginning of her sixth month. "Is she big now?"

"You also didn't hear this from me, but she's starting to get there. Your little brother's really made himself at home." Gregory missed the quietness that passed across his son's face as he fetched Sean's bag from the trunk.

Sean held up the keys with an innocent smile. "I promise not to even notice she's showing."

Gregory pointed to the hook on the wall near the hall closet. "Right there is fine." He dropped Sean's bag at the foot of the stairs and ducked into the kitchen. "Want anything?"

Following his father quickly into the kitchen, Sean made a beeline for the fridge. "What do we have for sandwiches? They didn't feed us on the plane and I'm starved."

Gregory's laughter echoed out from the pantry. "I forgot how jet lagged you must be. What time is it in that stomach of yours?"

Sean looked down at the watch he hadn't changed yet as he set a mound of ingredients on the counter. "Almost two-thirty." The sound of the coffee grinder surprised him. "Isn't it a bit early?"

Turning on the gas stove beneath the teakettle, Gregory smiled sheepishly. "I've never been able to go back to sleep when I should. I'll sit with you while you eat, provided you don't mind the company."

"No, dad, that's great." Sean tossed a dirty mayonnaise knife into the sink and moved on to piling ham and turkey on his bread. "I had some things I wanted to talk to you about anyway."

"Oh, what's on your mind?" Gregory poured cream into his coffee and pulled a stool up to the counter.

Sean picked up his sandwich and paused part way to his mouth before setting it back down. "Clomiphene."

"Ahhh..." Gregory sighed knowingly as he realized he was caught. He studied his coffee before turning back to his son. "Figured it out, didn't you?"

"Chester isn't known as the best medical school for nothing." Sean remind his father as he took a steadying breath. "I still can't believe you'd do that. Mom trusts you, she depends on you and you-" He stopped, for the first time in his life he was ready to take his father's side, and he couldn't. "You drugged her. You drugged her twice! Did you even think about how sick you made her? How dangerous it would be for her to be pregnant?"

Waiting for his son to finish, Gregory couldn't help being touched by his son's defense of his mother. It was comforting to know his protective streak hadn't been lost in the genetic shuffle. "I drugged her once, the second time was her idea-"

Sean started to interrupt, but Gregory insisted. "I swear I had nothing to do with it. I was as upset as you were when I came home from London." He took a slow sip of coffee and set his cup down. "You're just going to have to trust that I'm being honest with you. The first time was it was me. I wanted another child, I wanted your mother back. It was wrong of me, but there's little I can do about that now."

He was honestly apologetic and Sean relaxed enough to take a bite out of his sandwich. "But the second time was your mother's idea. She went to Roger and begged him for the damn things, and then she got Alex to help her. Alex told me about it and reminded me just how much your mother loved me. And how foolish I was to ever doubt that."

Sean pulled up a stool and sat down across from his father. "Does mom know?" He wondered quietly as he demolished his food.

"She knows the whole sordid tale." Gregory promised as he finished the last of his coffee. "I confessed a few days ago."

"And she forgave you completely, didn't she?" Sean reached for the coffee pot and poured himself a cup to chase down his sandwich.

Leaving his cup in the sink, Gregory looked out at the pale pink and orange ocean. "Of course she did. Your mother has a truly amazing capacity to forgive me for being myself."

"Suppose that's love." Sean shrugged back as he watched his father head for the door of the kitchen. "Going to be after all? I thought you couldn't sleep."

"Not being able to sleep doesn't mean I can't go back to bed." Gregory replied cryptically, before turning to smile at his son. "I've got a pile of case files to go over and for some reason, I have never been able to fathom, your mother can tell when I'm not there next to her."

"Even when she's sleeping." Sean finished. "Have fun."

Gregory smiled and raised an eyebrow and Sean started to laugh. "You really are going to have fun reading those case files, aren't you?"

"I think I'll plead the fifth." Gregory stopped before shutting the door to the kitchen and turned back to steal another proud look at Sean. "I'm glad you're home son."

Sean tried not to blush. His father was nearly a different person then the man he'd left. Perhaps it had been a gradual change like the growth of his unborn brother, and like his mother's figure, it was going to be most shocking to him because he had been absent. "Me too. Your anniversary means a lot. Cate and I used to wonder every year if this one would be the last one." Taking a sip of his coffee made Sean remember why he always had some sugar with his, and he made a face and reached for it. "Not anymore dad. I think this year's really something special."

Gregory tried to hide how touched he was by pretending to yawn, but both men knew better. "I'd have to agree with you son. Enjoy your morning back in town."

The door shut behind him on Sean's whispered thanks. Stirring his sugar into his coffee as he smiled, he couldn't help wondering if after all the terrible years, his family finally had everything right.


	74. retribution

Gregory sighed and leaned down, moving a curl of hair aside so he could kiss her temple. "You make a fortune in jewels look cheap, but that doesn't make it okay for you to leave them lying out on the bed."

Olivia smiled up at him sheepishly and shifted to get up from the sofa. "Can't a mother be distracted by the return of her son?"

Gregory settled on the sofa next to her as he smiled indulgently. "He seems so much older, doesn't he?"

Olivia beamed at him, sharing his pride in Sean's accomplishments. "Remember how worried we were that he wouldn't like the idea of a baby?" She straightened her husband's silvery gray tie and tried to keep tears out of her eyes. "But you two have talked about the baby all afternoon."

Placing their entwined hands on her belly, Gregory winked at her. "I liked his eyes, when you came downstairs and he saw how pregnant you really were-" Raising his eyebrows made his own eyes look huge. "I thought his eyes were going to fall out."

Hitting his shoulder made him laugh as she glared at him indignantly. "Oh you're exaggerating, he wasn't that surprised."

He shrugged as he squeezed her knee in reprisal. Her squeak of laughter made him chuckle as she squirmed to get away from his fingers. "I can't imagine leaving you in August and coming back to this." His hands were gentle as they ran over her stomach. "But before you attack me again, I think you're beautiful."

"You have to say that."

Ending a losing argument with a kiss was a useful skill of Gregory's. "I still have to go put the jewels away."

It was rather sweet of him to be willing to put them away, saving Olivia another trip upstairs. "You've had them in the historical society for so long, I don't even think of them as mine sometimes."

"It's excellent publicity for the Historical Society if you wear these out to our anniversary dinner." He caressed the string of white pearls around her neck. "Bette writes an article about the two of us surviving our twenty-two years together-"

Olivia's smile grew nostalgic and she leaned into his hand, letting his fingers run up her neck to touch her cheek. "Darling-"

"Think of it as your charitable contribution." He turned away for a moment and watched Sean sitting lazily on the patio, telling Roger and Bette how amazing his freshman classes were. "Besides, this dinner isn't for us. It's for our friends and our children. A chance for them to tell us how wonderful they think it is that we're still married."

"It is wonderful." She whispered softly to the back of his head. she couldn't have asked for anything more wonderful than having her family together. Gregory knelt down in front of her, resting his hands on either side of her knees.

"I'll be right down sweetheart. Why don't you see if you can find Caitlin on her cellular phone?" He looked out to the patio, and noted that everyone else was ready. "If she doesn't get here soon we're going to be late for our reservation at the country club."

Olivia reached for the phone and pressed the speed dial for Caitlin's cell. Two blocks away, the abandoned cellular phone rang unattended in a rental car parked out of sight in an alleyway. The ringing went unheeded by the owner who had just slipped around and through the back gate to the garden.

She'd overheard her parents talking about the jewels, somehow they had managed to slip that into a conversation that had gone from pleasant to entirely about every piece of medical trivia her brother and father could think up about the dammed baby. The jewels were back in her house. The cursed Deschanel jewels were worth two million dollars. Two million was more than enough to build a life on. The life she should have had with Cole.

Walking up the back staircase of her house for the last time felt good in a way. Cathartic even, because she was finally going to leave all of this behind. Her twisted childhood, her neurotic parents- Sean-

Sean would be all right. He was the last bit of sanity in her family. She had thought for awhile that there was hope for her father. That maybe his consuming obsession with her mother would end after the baby died. Caitlin still didn't know what kind of luck it was that had gotten her mother's pregnancy this far. Certainly this wasn't meant to be? What would her parents do with their second chance besides twist and corrupt that new baby? Fate would have to be kind enough take the baby away without any of her help.

She clutched the vial in her pocket nervously. All it took was a low cut blouse and a smile to get one of her chemistry tutors to let her into chemical supply. It wouldn't hurt. That was why she'd chosen it over everything else. Chloroform wouldn't hurt. She'd heard how Cole died. How someone had held him down in that dark water until he stopped breathing. She hadn't known- she didn't even want to believe it.

Until the party. If her father was willing to sacrifice her to save her mother, the thought that he'd murder Cole wasn't a stretch of the imagination. He'd never be caught of course. Gregory was too good at covering his tracks. Ricardo would never find enough evidence, if he even found any at all he deserved a commendation.

She paused with her hand on the door of the master bedroom. Some part of her had always thought she'd inherit it someday. That her husband would carry her over the threshold, after her parents moved on to sail the Caribbean like her father always wanted to, and the house would be hers. The whole life would be hers and for a happy while she thought Cole would be the one to share it with her. Gregory had taken that option away.

Caitlin opened the door, the safe was behind the mirror in the bathroom. It had taken a couple days of practicing while her parents were at work. Her father was too smart to use something as obvious as his anniversary. Her mother's birthday hadn't worked, nor had hers or Sean's. Checking random combinations of numbers would have taken too long. So she had turned to something else.

Her father, for some reason she had never been able to figure out, kept her mother's journals in his study. Stealing those away one at a time to look for relevant dates and numbers was painfully easy. Reading them was more difficult. She had spent so much time building a wall between her and her mother, reading her mother's innermost thoughts at a time in her life when they were most similar threatened that wall. Eventually she just skimmed, pretending it was someone else. Olivia was just a character in a novel.

It was there she had found it, in the second book. The first time Gregory took her mother on a surprise vacation they went to Costa del Sol. He made a point of telling her exactly where it was, and her mother's neat handwriting reported that it was thirty-six degrees north and four degrees west. Scanning down the page gave her the last number. Room nineteen.

36-4-19. That had worked. Yesterday afternoon, just before her parents arrived home from work she'd opened the safe. The jewels weren't there then, but they'd be there by now. Her parents were so distracted with their little anniversary that they wouldn't even notice she was gone until it was too late. Being with Cole had taught her to always have a good escape plan.

The door slipped open with a soft click. The bedroom was dark. Her mother's robe was lazily tossed over a corner of the bed, next to the black briefcase. Caitlin stopped, surprised by her good fortune. It was a shame all her work to find out the combination for the safe had gone to waste, but she wasn't going to give up this chance.

The briefcase wasn't even locked. The pearls were missing, encircling her mother's neck and dangling from her earlobes, but the remainder still topped two million. In South America, two million dollars in American currency would keep her comfortable for the rest of her life.

She opened her backpack and dumped the jewels inside the black plastic bag. After she knotted it, she stuffed it inside. She shut the briefcase, wiped the handle and the clasps clean of fingerprints with the corner of her mother's robe. She turned back to the door, ready to run away from the emptiness. Maybe she'd forget. Live the rest of her life in a new place, with a new name and no one would need to know her past.

She was nearly free. She put her hand on the doorknob, closing her eyes for just a second. A second was long enough for the door to open.

"Caitlin? We were just looking for you." Her father entered the room and smiled at her slightly out of surprise. "What are you doing here? I never thought I'd find you in the bedroom."

She shrugged and followed him in. Caitlin hadn't expected this to be so easy. Punishing her father was a foolish dream, and she was only carrying the chloroform as a last resort. But here he was. In his good blue suit. His favorite. Would they lay him out in it when he was dead?

That was an interesting mental picture. Her father carried in state through the streets of Sunset Beach with her mother, face white and destroyed behind her lacy black veil, at his side. It was a shame she wasn't going to watch. Caitlin had places to be. Places where no one would question why she was alone, or where she had gotten such beautiful jewels.

But Gregory was standing in the way. "Well?" He waited for her to answer, crossing his arms and watching her with a patronizing expression.

Indecision flashed through her. Refusing to go to dinner would create a scene. Letting him take her downstairs and off to the restaurant would make her miss her flight. "I'm sorry daddy." She whispered, surprised by the tears that stung her eyes. She didn't have time for weakness. Gregory had made his choice "I never thought-"

He looked confused, hurt and apologetic. "You never thought what sweetheart?"

"Nothing." Caitlin forced herself to smile. A smile was a good ending. Maybe he'd understand it wasn't personal, it was just what she had to do. She had to take the jewels so she could start a new life. Gregory and Olivia had made sure she wouldn't have a life any other way. If they had just been more understanding, listened to her and what she needed instead of always focusing on themselves- "I love you daddy."

The corner of his mouth turned up in a soft smile and he opened his arms. "I love you too sweetheart." She rested her head on his chest as he embraced her. He was happy, she reminded herself as reached for the vial in her pocket. The chloroform seeped into the handkerchief, making her fingers cold as it evaporated.

It wouldn't hurt, it would be quick, and as painless as going to sleep. After the way he treated Cole, it was more than he deserved. Gregory would die quietly. Caitlin kept her smile, tasting metal as she bit her lip in desperate excitement.

As they parted from each other she brought up her hand. Gregory's gaze was fixed on her and missed the way she brought up the handkercheif. In one smooth motion she clamped it over his nose and mouth, just like Cole had taught her. She locked her other arm around the back of his neck as he realized what she was doing and struggled to pull away from her.

If Gregory had caught on a moment earlier, he might have broken free, but the noxious chemical was to quick to weaken his body. His brown eyes locked with hers, driven dark with sorrow and betrayal. One more breath and he went down. Caitlin knelt next to her father's unconscious form. The hand with the handkerchief rested on her knee. She reached up and touched a piece of his hair. there wasn't much grey in it yet. He looked like he was sleeping. She straightened his arms, resting them at his sides as she rolled him on to his back.

Tossing a glance to her backpack and the window to the garden, Caitlin knew she could leave now. It would be some time before anyone came looking for him. Her heart ached to leave him there and be done. But he had killed Cole, the first man she'd loved. The man that was meant to be with her for the rest of her life and if she didn't punish him, no one would. Cole's death would become a footnote.

"You should have just listened to me daddy.' Caitlin whispered as she brought the handkerchief back to his face. "If you and mom had just given Cole the jewels, we'd be married by now." Her free hand went to his chest, feeling the slow beat of his heart. As more of the toxic chloroform entered his blood, his heartbeat got slower and weaker. Finally, just like the slow rise and fall of his chest, Gregory's heart stopped. Caitlin dropped the handkerchief and backed away in shock once it hit her that her father was no longer a person.

He was a body.

Tears clawed at her eyes, but she forced them back. Now was not the time to grieve. Now she had to run. Caitlin grabbed her backpack and reached down to close her father's eyes. "Goodbye daddy..."

She rustled the curtains, bumped the plant on the balcony as she dropped into the garden. Brushing dirt from her black pants, Caitlin straightened up and let herself out of the garden. She walked to the car, she'd left it unlocked. Her cell phone flashed at her, annoucing the voicemail. Caitlin dropped it out of her door, hearing the plastic bounce and crack against the pavement as she drove away,

Belle romped in from the yard just on Rose's heels after her walk. Presenting her head to Olivia to be scratched, Belle circled the living room, sniffing Bette, Roger and Sean as they returned from the patio.

"Find beauty yet?" Bette wondered as she perched on the arm of the sofa next to Olivia.

"Olivia handed her the phone to hang up, now that Bette was in between her and the phone. "No, I haven't been able to find her."

"Where'd Richards get off too?" Roger wondered as he rubbed Bette's shoulders thoughtfully. "Are we ever going to get to dinner? I do love you both, but my penguin suit-" He tugged at his tie. "Is a mite itchy."

"He just went upstairs to put something away for me." Olivia responded as she pulled herself up from the sofa with a sigh. "We should be ready to go as soon as Caitlin get here."

Shaking his head as he poured himself a glass of water, Sean was about to say something about how much his sister had changed when Belle's bark rang down from upstairs. First it was just Sean who looked up, but the dog kept barking.

"I'll go check." Sean started towards the stairs. "Dad's probably just playing with her." He took the stairs two at a time. Belle met him at the top of the stairs, but she barely acknowledged him before returning to the door to the master bedroom. She ran inside, barking and starting to growl.

Sean followed her in, worrying that a bird had flown through the window or something else strange. His father was lying on the floor. Still as-

He dropped to the ground, running through everything he knew in an attempt to force aside his own panic. "Dad?" Grabbing his wrist, Sean felt for a pulse as he reached up to his father's bluish-purple lips. No breath warmed his fingers. "Dad!" His own heart thudded in his ears. He felt himself move in slow motion towards the hallway.

"-Need an ambulance!" Sean finally managed to scream as he crawled back to his father. He was still warm. He had just seen him talking to his mother. He hadn't been down long. The sounds of everyone else scrambling up the stairs faded into the back of his mind. He dropped his hands to his father's chest, locking his fingers together and reaching up from the sternum.

As he started chest compressions, Roger burst through the door. Bette must have been the one to call for the ambulance because his mother's scream cut through to his heart from the doorway. He didn't know what she was saying as she started to sob hysterically. Roger checked for a pulse and breath, already slipping into his professional calm.

Nodding to Sean to continue compressions, Roger dropped down to breathe for his best friend. Sean counting his fifteenth compression and waiting for Roger.

The doctor's fingers pinched Gregory's nose as he dropped his face to his. Roger pulled back abruptly, grabbing Sean's shoulder as his eyes searched the room. He found the handkerchief crumpled by Gregory's ear. Roger lifted it and sniffed at it carefully. Sean decided it was better to keep up chest compressions. His mother dropped to the floor on the other side of his father's chest. She was crying so hard that her hands were shaking as she reached for Gregory's face.

Roger grabbed Sean's shoulder, shocking him out of his task. "Get her out of here."

Sean stared back dumbly as Roger dragged him to his feet.

"Chloroform-" Roger explained as he stuffed the handkerchief into his pocket. "Premature labor-" Roger's hand slapped across his face and Sean pulled himself out of his panic. "Just get her out of here."

Roger helped Sean drag Olivia to her feet, even as she fought them to get back to Gregory. Sean pulled her out into the hallway, trying to reason with her was impossible, and he couldn't find his voice. His words wouldn't come. She was starting to fight her way past him when Bette arrived from downstairs.

She was white, but she took Olivia and pulled her away from the bedroom door. Bette started to whisper to her friend just as the sirens started to creep into Sean's ears. Bette led Olivia back, away from the front staircase, and away from the bedroom door. Cut off from Gregory and losing to her terror, Olivia fell to her knees. Sean saw Bette drop down next to his mother out of the corner of his eye as he returned to Roger.

At a nod from the doctor, he resumed chest compressions. Focusing on counting to fifteen, pausing and counting to fifteen again was better than thinking about the sirens that were screaming closer to the house.

The clanging of emergency services as they made their way up the stairs, the way his mother was so lost in terror that Bette had to remind her to breathe, Roger barking explanations to the paramedics- all of it blended together. It was chaos. Hell.

And his father still wasn't breathing. How long had it been two minutes? Three? How long until the mind he hated, envied, and loved was gone forever? What was life like without his father? What would the world be like if Gregory never woke up?

Sean recognized the whine of the defibrillator as it charged.

"Two hundred joules." Roger ordered firmly in the voice of steely calm Sean remembered from the operating room. "Clear-" All hands darted back from his father.

The electricity lanced out and Gregory's body arched up before thudding to the floor. In that silence, while they all waited, Sean felt his childhood slip away.

This was it. One of the moments that would define his life. How could he step up and fill his father's very large shoes? How would he tell his little brother what his father had been like and do Gregory Richards justice?

Could he sit at his mother's side while she brought his baby brother into the world alone?

Roger's voice had the same crispness as the electricity. "Two twenty-" The same electrical whine of the charge building up.

Sean looked to Bette as she held Olivia back from the scene. His mother was a different person, so stricken with fear that she couldn't move.

"Clear-" The same thud as his father's body hit the floor. "Again."

"Clear-"


	75. fragility

Olivia jumped, tightening her grip on Bette's shoulders in time with the third blast of the defibrillator. The charge crackled in the air as it dissipated from Gregory's still form. As it died away, the bedroom became silent. Roger lowered his fingers to Gregory's neck and waited.

Silence held them all. Roger's face had gone stone, like the two paramedics at his side. Sean knelt besides him, his suit in disarray. Somehow it was comforting to see him worried about his father. Olivia clung to her chest, tears soaking through to Bette's blouse. She was still getting used to Olivia being pregnant, the hardness of her belly pressed against her as Bette kept held her. She couldn't help wondering if this baby was going to have a father.

It wasn't right to see Gregory still. He was impervious. No one hurt Gregory, he didn't even get sick. Bette couldn't remember the last time she'd even heard of him having to take a day off work for himself. Sometimes he took time off to take care of Olivia or the kids, but he didn't even get the flu.

Bette was the only one who saw the twitch in Roger's face. The hint of emotion he hid from everyone else. As he realized she was watching him, their gazes met. The spark in the depths of his green eyes was so deeply hidden that she was sure she was the only one who knew.

Roger's voice was barely above a whisper, without the oppressive silence of the bedroom no one would have heard. "I've got a pulse." He found the time to squeeze Sean's hand as the paramedics loaded his unconscious form onto the stretcher.

Bette still had her hands full. "They've got a pulse Livie. He's alive. We're going honey. We'll be right behind them." Bette promised to deaf ears. All Olivia had heard was that he was alive.

The sirens were painfully intense in contrast to the silence of the bedroom, but the fragile beep of Gregory's heart monitor cut through the scream of the sirens inside the ambulance. The hiss of the respirator was more faint. Everything hung on that fragile line on the monitor. Roger could force Gregory's chest to expand, force his lungs to spread life through his body, but he couldn't instill a steady rhythm into his heart.

The clear plastic mask over Gregory's face was still providing oxygen to his blue lips, but without the movement of blood it did little good. The monitor squealed a warning as the peaks flattened into a ominous line. At Roger's command more epinephrine poured into Gregory's vein's. He slammed the paddles down himself, feeling his oldest friend's body jolt upwards as the electricity called him back to life.

"Don't give up yet." Roger whispered to himself. "I'll chase you right down to hell if you make me tell her I couldn't save you." Letting go of the breath he was holding as Gregory's heart responded. Watching the monitor creep back up towards normal, Roger looked back towards the cars behind them. Sean was behind the wheel of Bette's white Lexus. Sean was too young to be going through this. Everyone was too young to lose a parent.

Sean had never seen his mother so upset.

Bette just pressed the car keys into his hand, no witticisms or remarks. "Follow the ambulance, keep it legal."

It was all he could do to dumbly get into the driver's seat. As he followed the trail of the ambulance he spent one glance towards the back seat. His mother was white, pale, ghostly white that make her skin seem transparent. Her grip on Bette's hand was slack, and even her fingers were limp with shock.

Bette, like Roger, it seemed, depended on stoicism. She was calm in a regimented, artificial way because she had to be. Olivia needed someone to be strong because she couldn't. She couldn't face a world without his father in it.

Sean turned his attention back to the road in front of him, missing the silent tears that coursed down his mother's face. They pooled under her chin, then they feel, unheeded onto the smooth silk of her dress. The green fabric spotted darker, nearly black when wet and Bette nearly smiled when she realized how foolish it was to worry that Olivia was ruining her dress. She'd never wear it again anyway.

If- (only in the darkest part of her mind did Bette let herself think if instead of when) if Gregory recovered- the anniversary was ruined. It might be rescheduled, but it certainly wasn't soon enough for Olivia to wear the same dress. Pregnancy certainly would have altered her figure too much by then.

Bette forced the idea of Olivia finishing her pregnancy alone out of her mind. Gregory would be there when this baby came because she couldn't even imagine it differently. As she had told Olivia a hundred times, this was real love. Real love would fight for itself wouldn't it?

Her heart wanted to believe her, to trust that this couldn't be the end. Surely if there was a divine intellect, this wasn't part of the plan. No one would be cruel enough to let two people finally find happiness and then rip one of them away.

Olivia couldn't feel anything. She'd lost the capacity to reason and her heart was as still as her husband's had been on their bedroom floor. Gregory had been dead and dragged back to life by a thread. Now only that thread held him. The worst part was how impossible it was to believe everything was going to be all right.

It hadn't been for her father. When she'd found him, still, lying on the floor without breathing- it had been anything but all right. Just like Gregory, Thomas represented all was good in the world. Gregory might not have her father's dedication to virtue, but he was so strong.

Gregory was constant, as dependable as the sunrise. He was far from perfect, but he loved her. He dragged her out of the water, became so overprotective when she needed him. He'd built their lives together, carved out a space in the world that was theirs alone. In all his careful plotting he'd never considered this. As good as he was at protecting her, there was no contingency plan for something happening to him.

Just like her father, who loved her and made her feel wonderful and special. The one thing he'd never taught her was how to do that without him. Without Thomas the world had grown dark. Daylight was a grey mockery of what it once had been. The little pieces of loneliness grew around her like thorns. It wasn't that he was just gone- it was having breakfast alone. It was making tea and realizing it was for one. Coming home to an empty flat and sealing in loneliness when she shut the door.

Manchester became more silent hell than home. When Ethel Baxter handed her the money she needed to get out, she'd left the following morning. Even the California sunshine had felt like a lie, a flash of light in the darkness she couldn't chase out of her heart. Then Gregory exploded into her world with the force and brilliance of a comet.

He was charming and intelligent and even though he was always the center of a conversation, he found a way to catch her eyes. That special, confidant little smile that said he'd been watching her all along. The way he winked at her and made the rest of the room fade away.

Bette tightened her grip as they got out of the car, but it was a stranger's hand in Bette's fingers. Someone else was wearing her rings, her watch, the silver and diamond bracelet Gregory gave to her before the Police ball. The expensive stones glittered in the weak fluorescent lights of the hospital, but even they were fading.

The whole world was fading into darkness again, but Gregory wasn't there to illuminate it. He was the center of attention, surrounded by medical staff who worked desperately to keep his heart beating, but he couldn't smile at her. He didn't even seem real, she couldn't touch him. Roger hadn't even let her touch him.

No one bothered to keep her away now. They were too busy with Gregory to notice her standing there with Bette and Sean. Olivia's hearing snapped back on as a cacophony of alarms went off at once.

"He's crashing-"

"BP seventy over thirty-five and falling."

"O2's dropped to sixty percent."

"We're loosing him."

"EEG's going flat-"

Gregory was kissing her neck and laughing as they talked to their wedding guests. Caitlin hiccuped and stopped crying as her father held her. He carried her over the threshold, tucking her feet back to keep them from hitting the doorway. He held up his hand to stop her from talking, fury burning in his eyes as he realized she'd been having an affair. His hands closed around her wrists, and he kissed the bruises he had left when he apologized.

He held her eyes open in the car, forcing her to look at him, to stay with him even as their baby died within her. Sean took his first trembling steps towards his father and Gregory waited with the kind of patience only a father could have as he held out his hands. Caitlin ran to him after her first day of school. Gregory held her hand as they watched Sean graduate from elementary school.

The vodka bottle shattered on the wall over her head and Gregory crushed the martini glass beneath his foot as he backed her towards the bed. Her dress tore as he ripped it from her. Her hand stung as she slapped him for having yet another affair with some little wh0re from his office. He shook her until she collapsed to the floor of the bathroom and vomited. He whispered to her when he thought she was sleeping. Wondered how they'd gone so wrong, gotten so lost from each other.

Gregory held up her knife and waited for her fingers to grab the handle.

"I love you." Olivia echoed as her life flashed to a halt. That was it, that was everything. "Gregory-"

The gurney rattled beneath him. The crash cart drew so much power the lights in the emergency room dimmed. The alarms stopped as Gregory's heart started beating again.

"Gregory-" She broke through the nurses, and Roger nodded that they should give her a moment.

Bette took his hand. There were some things that couldn't be explained medically. "Is he going to make it?"

Roger shrugged faintly, grateful for her presence at his side. "I hope so."

"What does that mean?" She turned her away from Gregory's bed, pulling him back so only she could hear his reply.

"It's not up to me. We've got his heart beating, Gregory has to keep it going."

Olivia dropped her hand to her husband's forehead, brushing his soft brown hair with trembling hands. "Stay for me." She kissed his cheek, trying not to think about how cold it was. "I stayed for you. You can't leave me now."


	76. breaking point

It was the most extravagant funeral Sunset Beach had ever put on. Gregory's coffin was carried in state down Ocean Ave from his home to the park by the sea. The funeral had started small but gradually became so large that no indoor venue could contain it. Gregory hadn't been particularly religious, so it was mostly a secular ceremony. Roger did the eulogy, but Bette, Sean, Casey, Ben Evans- everyone had something to add. Congressmen and women from three states, even both California Senators attended and there were more limousines in the line of cars behind the carriage than there had ever been in that little town.

Olivia didn't speak. Bette considered it a minor miracle she had even managed to attend. She was listless, a waxwork done in ivory of the woman she had been before Gregory's death. Not that sorrow diminished her beauty. In a painful way Olivia was more beautiful than she had been when he was alive, as if his death had burned away what was left mortal within her.

Her eyes had an unearthly brightness that made them painful to look at. She stood in the center of the park, surrounded by the latest of the roses and the planters of lilies. Sean was with her, ten years older than he'd been when he left for school as he stood at his side. It hadn't yet been discussed if he was going back to England. Olivia wouldn't ask him to stay.

She'd barely batted an eye when Caitlin had been arrested for Gregory's murder. The world didn't seem to mean anything to her anymore. She ate because Roger told her too. She got up and got dressed because that was what she was supposed to do. Olivia hadn't mentioned the baby. She barely acknowledged that she was pregnant in front of Bette or anyone else.

The funeral seemed to have reminded her, physically at least, that her body wasn't her own. She was only half-way through the line of mourners with their whispered regrets for her when she started to look tired. She fidgeted with her back, and Bette was almost relieved when Olivia asked to sit down. It was human of her to admit the weakness, and the glimpse of humanity comforts Bette immensely.

Casey seems to have knack for bringing Olivia out of her shell. She nearly smiled when he brought up his wedding and she reaches out to touch his hand as he passes her in the line of strangers. "You should come by for Christmas." He whispers warmly. "I think mom would have liked that."

Olivia nodded, but Bette doubted that she heard Casey's polite request. Listening to the voice around her and hearing them were so far separated that Bette was certain she would have nodded no matter what Casey said.

The rest of the funeral passed in a daze. Olivia spoke very little, always polite when it was forced on her, but never more than a perfunctory reply to anyone. Towards the end of the funeral someone, one of Gregory's partners, asked when the baby was due. Olivia dropped the glass she was holding and ignored the way it shattered on the cobblestones beneath her feet.

"What? What are you talking about?"

The poor man gaped at her, unable to believe she'd buried the very obvious fact of her pregnancy. Bette just steered him away. "She's suffered quite a shock, and just wasn't herself lately."

It was easy to say that in the beginning. It was so easy to pretend that maybe the next day Olivia would wake up more like herself. That she acknowledge that she was carrying the child of the man she loved. But she didn't. She couldn't. Even when her water finally broke that cold day in February and the pain of her contractions made it impossible for her to breath without letting on that she was in pain.

She wouldn't let Roger take her to the hospital, even when that trip might have saved her. Bette could still picture her face as she saw the baby at long last. Olivia didn't even have the strength to hold her own child in her arms.

"Tell him I'm sorry." She whispered to Bette as she held the sleeping infant up next to her face. Roger made the call to the ambulance that would never come in time half-heartedly. Now that the baby was free, Olivia no longer had anything holding her back. "Tell him how much his father loved him." Her transparent fingers brushed across her son's damp pink cheek before she lost the struggle to keep her eyes open. Olivia only fought for breath a moment longer, than she was still. Her skin still glowed faintly with the residual of her tremendous struggle to release her son, but the light was akin to that of a dead star reaching Earth millions of years after its' demise.

Roger shut her eyes with his hand before he took the baby from Bette's arms. The baby was the only one in the room that didn't understand. He slept on, too exhausted from his birth to bother crying along with the two that held him between them. Bette was the first one to start to cry.

Without the baby in her arms, she was free to grab Olivia's shoulders, to shake her until she realized that nothing she could do would bring life back into that empty shell. Life had been gone from that body far longer than just the last few moments. Olivia had been gone for months. Roger knew that. It was why he hadn't fought harder, why he didn't share Bette's hysteria as she realized this time Olivia wasn't hanging on. She was finally free.

Bette awoke with a jolt in Roger's office. She'd fallen asleep sitting up on the couch. Olivia was curled up next to her, her head resting on the pillow in Bette's lap. In spite of herself, she had to check that Olivia was still breathing. The nightmare pounded through her mind, refusing to let her fall back asleep.

Olivia's face haunted her. More than the thought of Gregory's funeral, more than raising the Richards baby without either of his parents, Olivia's still, white face made her blood run cold. It was the worst kind of death, the quiet, creeping death that consumed someone from the inside out.

Bette didn't understand that kind of love. She'd never had it, and on some level she had to admit she didn't want it. For all the great romantic wonder of it, it was difficult and demanding. It required a fire and a sensitivity she had just never possessed. She stroked the soft dark hair on the head in her lap and decided she should be more grateful for her own inadequacies in that department. A certain amount of romantic ineptitude kept her from being in Olivia's terrible position. She might be alone most of the time, but being alone kept the daggers out of her heart.

"Can't lose what I don't have." Bette whispered to herself as the nightmare demanded recognition again. "Gregory's funeral was gorgeous Livie, but it's not going to be that soon. Dear God, it's not going to be that soon. And you-" Terror made her voice catch in her throat.

"You're not allowed to die like that because I just don't think I could handle that." Deeply grateful Olivia was still sedated, she could allow herself the moment of weakness. As fond as she was of Gregory, losing her best friend, her oldest friend, wasn't something she could take. "I know you love him, but there are a lot of people who would really miss you if you try to go after him. Especially me! I can't raise your baby. Roger can't be Gregory and I'll never live up to you. I mean, I've watched you, and your little darlings, and you're not always perfect, but you still put the bar pretty damn high for little old moi."

"Don't make me do this Livie. Just don't...don't..."

Sean had never worn a suit this long before. All the starch was out of his shirt, the wrinkles in his pants were more set than the crease and the jacket was still crumpled in the corner of the observation room. Every fifteen minutes a nurse came through to check on his father's vitals, and each time he got a sympathetic nod or a few comforting words. When morning came one of the nurses brought him breakfast.

He picked at it, and than devoured it. Sean didn't know he was hungry, but his body wanted the eggs, the toast and jam, even the bad coffee. He'd never liked coffee, it was something he associated with his father. Today he drank it because it was there. He had the second cup because he wanted to be closer to his father.

He'd do anything to understand him now. Now that he might never be able to talk to him again, he was grasping at straws. Roger was the one checking on Gregory and the one to catch his wince when he began his third cup of coffee. Sean found his voice. "Dad likes it. I've never really found out why."

Roger nodded as he checked over Gregory's vital signs and made a note of the unchanging situation. "I didn't start drinking coffee until Ethan was born. Just couldn't stay awake without it."

"Seriously?" Sean tried to picture his father as a young man, buried in work, but still struggling to find time for his children and his wife.

"Uh-huh. There's a reason they call it liquid sleep." Roger set the chart back at the foot of Gregory's bed. "Sure I can't get you anything?" He glanced over Sean's black coffee and grinned. "Try cream and sugar. Think of it as training wheels. Makes it go down easier. I'll be right back."

"Training wheels..." Sean whispered to himself as he stared down at his father. "I remember you buying me that bike, the blue one with the training wheels on the back. I remember practicing with it every chance I got because I wanted to be able to ride it, just like Caitlin. Then we finally took the training wheels off, and I fell over, and fell over again and again, and my knees got all bloody."

He left his chair and walked over to the window. "You ruined one of your good handkerchiefs trying to keep me from bleeding. When we walked home. I remember crying when Rose threw it out. I wanted it as a souvenir so I had something of yours. You bought Caitlin everything, but that bike, that bike was something we had together."

He turned back to his dad, waving his hand over his father's still one and trying to get up the courage to take it. "I was almost sad when I finally got it because it wasn't something we had together anymore." Dropping his hand to the sheet next to his father's, Sean sighed heavily. "We don't have a lot of things in common. Never did. We both love mom, but we haven't even had that very long. She's been so happy. I never thought I'd say that to you, but you make her happy."

Roger set down a tray of cream and sugar packets. "I know it doesn't seem like good news, but your dad is holding his own. Few people survive the kind of poisoning he suffered. I know waiting is a terrible game, but it's just time now. When he wakes up-"

Sean finished the thought for him as he stirred the cream and sugar into the coffee. "He'll either be my father, or not."

"Brains are still the final frontier in medical science, we don't know how they heal, but I've seen worse get better." Roger crossed his arms over his chest.

"And better get worse." Sean finished grimly. "I just never thought I'd want him to get better."

Roger perched on the window sill and managed a quiet chuckle. "Gregory's not the easiest man to get along with. In fact, he's probably down there with the most difficult."

"But he's my father." Sean didn't even realize he was holding his father's hand until he looked down and saw Gregory's gold watch next to his thumb. "I should have tried harder. I should have been a better son-"

Roger hit the back of his head, nearly hard enough to cause Sean pain. "No! You're a great kid. The best. You should have heard your father rave about you all the months you've been in England. Every letter from you was a national holiday in Sunset Beach." He pantomimed a banner hanging in the window. "Letter from Sean Day!"

Sean shook his head as he watched the second hand on his father's watch turn past the three. "You're making that up."

Shrugging a little, Roger smiled. "Your mother vetoed the banner, she didn't like the colors your father picked out."

He started to laugh as he pictured his parents arguing about the colors of a banner for the balcony. Then he felt his father's hand twitch beneath his fingers. Sean's eyes flew to his father's face as Gregory's eyelids moved.

Roger was instantly at the bed next to him, just as anxious as he was to see what remained in Gregory's mind.

His father's brown eyes, usually so certain and intense, wandered confused until they found Sean's face. He watched the muscles in Gregory's face relax as recognition flowed through him. Ecstatic, Sean smiled and started to explain that his mother was just down the hall and he could get her in a second.

But Gregory's first request wasn't for Olivia. He swallowed, struggling against a dry tongue and swollen throat. "Alex?" He coughed and pulled himself up on the bed as he started to sit up. "Where's Alex?"


	77. balance

Roger caught his shoulders and steadied Gregory back against the head of the bed. Handing the glass of water, he tried not to look at the stricken look on Sean's face. "How are you feeling?"

Gregory took a moment to consider the question and Sean was quietly grateful again that Olivia wasn't here to see him struggle with the question. "Like Frankenstein's monster."

The humor surprised Sean nearly as much as Roger's chuckling. "I was wondering if you'd remember that. Okay, harder question. Who's this handsome young man next to me?"

Gregory reached out and took Sean's hand, smiling softly. "My son."

"Good." Roger pulled up a chair and sat in it backwards, resting his arms on the back. "Do you know where you are?"

Gregory coughed again and a trickle of water ran down his chin as he fumbled with his cup. Sean started to reach for it but Roger shook his head. Whispering out of the corner of his mouth, "It's just water. Let him realize it's there."

After a moment or two, he did much to Sean's relief. His father wiped clumsily at his chin and went back to Roger's question. "Room's too big to be that clinic. South Bay General."

Roger mimed adding a point to a scoreboard. "Correct. Who are you and what do you do for a living?"

"This says I'm Gregory Richards." Gregory pretended to read his name off his armband and Roger rolled his eyes. "I rule the town with an iron fist. May I see my wife now? She must be worried sick about me."

"Mom's in Roger's office, I'll go get her-" Sean jumped to his feet but Roger held him off.

"Tell me about your wife." He asked softly, not willing to risk Olivia's disappointment. "What's her name?"

Sean paused in front of the doorway, his conscious mind insisted that Roger was doing the right thing, but he didn't want to face a world where his father wasn't who he was supposed to be. Gregory was infallible. It was part of being him.

"You have to be joking-" Gregory started with a touch of annoyance. Roger just shook his head and waited. "She's the love of my life." He explained through a grimace as he realized he was in a hospital gown. "Alex and I-"

Sean couldn't contain his shock and even in his confused state his father read it all over his face.

"What is it? Is she all right?" Watching the concern on Gregory's face was unnerving. It was worse to listen to him ask for a dead woman and seem utterly unable to remember his real wife. "Sean, where's your mother?"

Sean turned to Roger, looking slightly helpless. "She's asleep dad. In Roger's office."

"Why's she asleep? Isn't it the middle of the day?" Gregory examined the clock on the wall and gave Roger a critical look. "Did you let her stay up all night?"

Roger put his hands in his pockets and resigned himself. Sean was having trouble looking at his father, but he met Gregory's gaze head-on. "I sedated her." He put a hand on Sean's shoulder and regretted having to admit this in front of him. "I was worried about her. If anything happened to you-" The seriousness of Roger's steely green eyes betrayed how close a call it had been. "The stress might have put her in danger. I wasn't going to let her go through that."

"Thank you." Gregory replied softly, his mind caught up in the real possibility that he had been on the brink of death. They sat in collective silence for awhile, Sean wanted to scream at his father that his wife's name was Olivia. That he loved her more than anything. Roger waited to see if the hint got through to Gregory.

Fidgeting with his hands did it. Touching his wedding band finally flashed an image of the smiling face that had put it there. "Olivia-"

Sean jumped in surprise as relief washed warmly over him.

"She's pregnant. That's why you sedated her."

Grabbing his father's hand suddenly Sean fought the sting of his eyes. "When's she due?" His eyes begged his father to return. "How surprised were you when you found out she was pregnant?"

His father had to pause a moment, as if listening to a voice in the back of his mind that was feeding him the answers. "March. Our baby's due in March."

Roger smiled, like a teacher with a prized student. "That's right. Olivia's due in March."

"Olivia..." The word rolled over Gregory's tongue and Sean could see him struggling to remember. It was awful. His parents were finally back together. Finally happy for awhile but now thanks to his sister his father was struggling to remember her name. "Liv."

Sean backed away, deciding that Roger could handle his father as he fled to the hallway. The door clicked shut behind him and he stood in there, lost in the empty beige corridor. He was alone and the weight of it collapsed onto his shoulders. Roger was coaching his father. Reminding him that it had been his anniversary, that Olivia had just turned forty-three last week.

Gregory had taken her shopping, driven all the way to Beverly Hills and spent the whole weekend going from store to store with her in hand. His letter on it was a rather droll commentary, but his mother's letter was so excited it nearly leapt off the page. That excitement had been in her voice when she called to ask him when he was coming home. Something was definitely different with them. In a way he envied his younger brother. He was coming into an entirely different world. His parents would be loving and supportive of each other.

Maybe things would be different for Caitlin if his parents had gotten along when he was younger. Maybe she'd be better. He shuddered thinking about it. He'd tried to avoid it, focusing on his father's recovery and on making sure his mother and the baby were all right. She'd tried to kill him. Caitlin had tried to kill their father and nearly succeeded. He wandered down to the lounge and dropped into a chair. He was too tired to cry.

A woman cleared his voice politely and drew his attention. "We have a lot to talk about."

Too tired to be surprised that she was talking to him, Sean turned and gaped at her. She was beauty in its most dangerous form and he was utterly entranced. Sean had met beautiful women before. His mother was lovely, Annie was dangerous but gorgeous. His friends used to joke that Caitlin was hot. Tiffany had been pretty, but no woman had ever looked like her and spoken to him directly.

And she was waiting. Her long dark hair was thicker than his mother's but it was tightly bound back to her head. Her eyes were dark and the hand she moved away from her face revealed dark red stain on her lips. "I know you've been here all night, would you care to shower and change before we talk?" Her words had a lilt, an accent he didn't quite recognized. She stood and reached for his elbow. "We do have quite a lot to discuss."

The accent was Italian, he realized as she led him to the elevator. Getting out of the damn hospital was so gratifying that he didn't care where she was leading him. She opened the door on a pristine black car with tinted windows. "After you Mr. Richards."

Sean started, he'd never thought of himself as "Mr. Richards". He stared dumbly at her as she held open the door. "Who are you?"

"A friend of your family." She nodded to the driver and got in next to him. "A family that is much larger and more complex than you have been told."

The car went to the Oceanview instead of his house. She explained the police were still finishing their work in the crime scene. "It's too crowded in your house for the conversation we need to have." She straightened her hat, a dark wool fedora, and stepped out of the car as it came to a stop in front of the hotel.

She crossed to open his door for him, treatment Sean was entirely unaccustomed too. He reached for her wrist, trying to stop her from opening the door to the hotel as well, but he stopped when he realized her hands were encased in tight black leather gloves. She gave him the tiniest of smiles and led him up to the penthouse. Seating him at the table, she ducked into the kitchen.

"Open the folder on the table in front of you." She ordered as he moved aside a neat pile of clothes from the chair without realizing they were his size.

She returned with fresh coffee, cream and sugar and a pastry. "First is Cole St. John. Jewel thief, con artist and known associate of the Deschanel syndicate. He disguised himself as Julian Deschanel to date your sister, but-" She flipped over to the next few photographs. Cole with black hair, Cole with brown hair and glasses, Cole with his arm around Caitlin's lower back.

"We discovered after some digging that Cole St. John is actually Cole Deschanel. The son of one Armando James Deschanel Junior. AJ- who is now here in Sunset Beach."

Sean took a long sip of his coffee. "Why tell me?"

She turned the pictures over and moved on. "The Deschanel jewels are worth slightly over three million American dollars in today's jewelry market and around one point three million if they are broken up and sold as stones." Her coffee was black, and she drank it without waiting for it to cool. "However, it seems that the jewels were never his real objective. He spent more time trying to hurt your mother than procuring the jewels."

"I still don't know why you're telling me this-" Sean wondering with growing frustration.

Tapping the table drew his attention back to the folder and she waiting patiently for him to calm down. "Now we move to Italy. Raspuglia is a small village in the hills south of Florence. Your father's cousin, Tribuno Riccidari lives there with his family. Your family."

"Dad doesn't have any family." Sean began to correct her as he looked over the maps of Italy. "He's never talked about them."

"Mr Richards-" She began and softened her voice as she recognized the child behind his eyes. "Sean, your grandfather was part of a great and noble family. He turned his back on them and came to America where he married an American woman and had a son. Your father. It took your father's family sometime to find him, and when they did he was a angry, lonely young man desperately in need of a family." She pulled herself up on the table and rested her feet on the chair next to him. "Family is everything."

"Your father was introduced to his family when he was older than you, and we had planned to give you more time to come into your own before involving you in the family business, but certain events made it impossible to delay your introduction." She shut the folder and straightened her skirt as she crossed her legs.

"You are part of one of an old and powerful family, one that takes care of its' own." She refilled her cup and gave him a look that resembled pity. "Your sister committed a crime against the entire family when she attacked your father. A crime that must be punished."

Sean's cup rattled against the table as he set it down in a hurry. "The police will find Caitlin."

She shook her head sadly, removing her hat and setting it on the table at her side. "That I rather doubt. if Caitlin learned well from Cole she'll be nearly impossible to find."

"But she has what she wanted." Sean pushed his chair away from the table, trying to foce his tired mind to make sense of the situation. "She wanted the jewels, just like Cole did."

"After the last attack on your mother, your father became convinced that she needed to be protected, at all costs. He arranged for Cole's existence to be terminated."

Sean took another step back, unable to believe what he was hearing. "Dad had him killed?"

"He protected your mother and your unborn brother."

Still shaking his head, Sean stared out at the sea through the plate glass window. "No."

"Caitlin may spend the rest of her life in seclusion. Or she might return tomorrow and try to finish what she started. She was in love and love does foolish things to a woman's heart." She slid off the table and joined him at the window. "Next time she might not be after your father."

"She wouldn't-" Sean insisted without believing what he was saying. "She couldn't."

"Can you take that chance?"

He slammed a fist against the window, feeling the pain run up his arm as the glass held steady. "Caitlin wouldn't hurt the baby. How could she? He's her brother." Smashing a vase on the coffee table behind him went better. The glass beads instead tumbled in a rush out over the floor. His stomach felt cold, like a solid lump of lead.

"Gregory was her father." She finished softly. "He may still never recover. He was dead for over two minutes. His mind could be irreparably damaged." She moved her foot and sent a new group of beads rolling across the smooth tile floor. "And your sister claimed to love him."

Wondering if he was going to throw up, Sean held his ground as best he could. "I can't."

"Caitlin is your sister, it's your decision to make."

"I can't." He repeated as firmly as he could. "Don't you see why I can't?"

She sighed heavily and walked carefully through the mess to the table. Shutting the folder she picked up her cellular phone. With a push of a button it was on. She turned her back to him politely. "Ask Dr. Baxter to wake Mrs. Richards... I know we didn't intend to involve her-"

Crunching as Sean crossed the floor, the glass beads rolled free of his shoes. "Don't wake my mother."

"Excuse me." She covered the cell and turned back to him patiently. "We have a lead on your sister now. We may not in a few hours. My orders are to do what I have to do to protect the family."

"Please don't wake her." Sean stared into her eyes, looking for some kind of absolution he'd never find. "You know where Caitlin is?"

She nodded curtly, holding the phone to her chest.

"Do it." Sean whispered so softly that he barely heard it. He swallowed the lump in his throat and felt his chest go as cold as his stomach. He cleared his throat. "Keep my mother safe."

"I'll call you back." She hung up the phone and set it neatly on the table before giving him her full attention. "Are you certain?"

"I want my mother to be safe." Sean whispered with a voice fifty years too old for his face. "I don't want to know how, just make it quick."

She brushed his shoulder with her gloved hand and pointed him towards the bathroom. "Go take a shower, change clothes. The driver will take you back to the hospital."

"Promise me Caitlin won't be afraid." Sean begged with hollow eyes.

"She won't be afraid." She picked up her cellular phone and headed for the door. Sean took a tentative step towards the bathroom, and as soon as she was out of the apartment, he threw up. He'd made his choice and unlike Caitlin he would have to live with it a very long time.


	78. fog

He only needed a few minutes alone in Roger's office. Olivia was still asleep on the sofa, whatever Roger had drugged her with was strong. She didn't even stir when Gregory brushed a hand over her hair and tried vainly to jump start his memory. This was his wife, touching her should evoke a thousand different emotions but he didn't feel anything. The same quiet numbness that filled his heart refused to give way to feelings of familiarity.

"I love you." Whispering it to her seemed right, fitting even, but he couldn't remember saying it before. He couldn't conjure up the feeling behind it. The emotions he knew he had to have were gone.

But he remembered being Gregory Richards. He knew Roger kept clothes in the back of his office. He knew they'd fit, he knew how to tie his shoes, how to button up his shirt, but he didn't remember her. He didn't remember conceiving their child, but he remembered running from Cole and choking the life out of him. He knew Sean, he felt when he hugged Sean and thanked God that he was still alive to be with his son.

But he couldn't remember a daughter. The picture in Sean's hand didn't mean anything. When Roger had started talking about Caitlin his first thought was that Caitlin was the child Olivia was carrying. They must have known that Olivia carried a girl and Caitlin was a lovely name.

But she wasn't lovely. Something was wrong with Caitlin. It was in Roger's eyes when he dodged Gregory's questions. It was in the tightness in Sean's forehead that aged him ten years. Wrong seared outward from his son's eyes. But no one dared tell him the truth.

He'd get out the dammed hospital and remember. Turn his house upside down until he remembered everything. Gregory looked at himself in the mirror and saw the business he knew. The circles beneath his eyes were dark, but no darker than after a long day at the office. He didn't look like a man who had clung to the precipice and looked out over death.

Was that why he couldn't remember? Death was the natural, inevitable conclusion to his existence. Death was acceptable. Leaving Olivia was not. Alex had made him promise that.

Kneeling down in front of the sofa, Gregory thought of Alex. Felt her hand on his shoulder as he stared down in Olivia's angelic face. He spared a moment to wonder if he had always found her so beautiful. Did he appreciate the high curves of her cheekbones and the softness of her lips when he had years of memory to tie them too?

He repeated apologetically. "Everyone says I love you but I-" Gregory ran his hand through his hair and sighed as he realized he needed a shower. "I can't remember. I look at you and I feel like I've only just met you. You could be anyone and I'd have to trust that I love you." Struck with the urge to kiss her, Gregory leaned down but stopped a moment from touching her. He couldn't kiss her. He didn't know her. He didn't have her permission.

Instead he traced a long curl of her hair and followed it down her arm. In March their baby was due. That gave him just over three months to find himself again. His responsibility for this child was great and though he couldn't remember exactly why, guilt roared upwards in his throat.

Was it that she didn't want the baby? No. Even in her drug induced sleep her arm encircled her stomach protectively. She loved their baby. He'd overheard the argument that raged between Bette and Roger while they thought he was asleep.

Bette felt guilty sedating her best friend, continuing to lie about Gregory being awake when Olivia should have been with him the moment he woke up. Roger just sighed and admitted that he wasn't ready to see her. He didn't know who she was. Could she imagine how devastating it would have been for Olivia if he had looked up at her and asked who she was?

Olivia opened her eyes, lashes fluttering dark against her cheek. Gregory smiled, reminding himself that she needed his confidence. "Hey sweetheart. Ready to go home?"

Throwing a bucket of ice water over her would have been less cruel. Jumping back from him as if he were a threat, Olivia's right hand closed down on his shoulder to steady herself. He wasn't prepared for the change in balance, her legs swung around over the edge of the sofa and he fell back as she leaned forward. Together they tumbled back to the floor of Roger's office. Instinctually he caught her and pulled her to his chest, letting his back take the brunt of the fall.

Gregory bit his lip in surprise as pain lanced through his abused body. Pain was nothing. Only a manifestation of the body's desire to avoid damage and he could force that away. Olivia's eyes were tearing up and he wasn't sure he could handle watching her cry over him when he remembered so little of feelings that she was struggling with.

Laughing instead, he brushed her hair and smiled up into the stricken eyes above him. "It's all right."

She blinked, losing the fight against her tears but imitating his smile. "Gregory-"

He kissed her cheek, wishing he could understand why she was trembling. "I'm fine Liv." The nickname sparked a vague flash of familiarity, but only earned more tears.

Olivia turned his head and kissed his lips, desperately proving to herself that he was no dream. That he was real and as alive as the child within her. Gregory tried not to think about the kiss. His lips might remember her better than his mind did and the last thing he wanted to do was force her to face the emptiness he felt.

She didn't notice. Her hands held on to him, even as her fingers shook with relief. "I thought, oh god Gregory, I thought I lost-" Breaking off, she just shook her head at him and bored into his eyes.

Gregory buried his discomfort and reminded himself to smile. "I'm still here-" He sat her up, trying to find the right emotions. Anything more than a raging sense of guilt. "And we're going home."

"Home?" Olivia leaned back against the sofa, keeping her hand on his face. "How can we go home? Surely they didn't-"

Shrugging as he stood up and brushed himself off with as much nonchalance as he could muster, Gregory winked. "I'm a fast healer."

"But darling-" Her feet were as steady as he hoped and Gregory had to catch her firmly to keep her standing. He wanted someone else to take responsibility for her. Give him the time to think, but she snuggled into his arms, sighing in relief as she gave up her argument.

"Let's go home." Olivia agreed as she dried her eyes. "I hate it here."

Gregory saw Olivia run towards him down a hallway and collapse into his arms, sobbing as hot blood seeped through the gashes in her shirt to coat his hands. Assaulting him as it demanded to be recognized through the fog, the memory meant nothing. A single star in blackness of a foreign night. Gregory hunted it anyway, squeezing down on the feeling of helplessness clutching at his heart. The memory expanded. Police officers rushed around the corner, Olivia's first concern was the baby, and the corridor of the hospital stretched on forever as he had looked for her.

"Yes." Gregory offered as he wrapped an arm around her back. The gesture came without thinking and it comforted him almost as much as it meant to calm her. "You have every reason to." He'd find them out. It didn't matter if he had to relearn his own life piece by piece, Gregory would beat this.

No one stopped them on their way out of the hospital. Their driver picked them up and dropped them off at home. Rose lit up with relief when she answered the door and promised to get started on dinner. She was entirely correct when she'd commented that hospital food barely counted as food. Not that he even felt hungry.

Olivia had said very little on the trip home. At first he blamed exhaustion, but she kept meeting his eyes and turning away. When he tried to leave the sofa to get her a glass of water, she clung to his arm. Gregory stayed, pulling her into his chest and praying he'd know what to say when she finally managed to admit what was on the tip of her tongue.

"Do you remember what happened?"

He shook his head, pushing away the vague memories of holding her and trying to concentrate on the present. "No, nothing before waking up in the hospital."

Olivia's hand clung tighter to the collar of his stolen shirt, and Gregory wondered how many more minutes of freedom they had before Roger brought out the hounds to drag him back to the hospital.

"I wanted to be there." Her whispered guilt dug at his heart. Olivia had nothing to apologize for, nothing to feel this way about.

"Sean was there." He assured her as he counted himself lucky she'd been absent. "He was the first person I saw." How much would it hurt Olivia to know her husband barely remembered her?

That calmed her breathing and she let her hand relax a fraction. Whatever it was bothering her, she had to deal with it and it began with, "Caitlin-"

Olivia didn't get a chance to finish. Roger, Bette and Detective Torres burst into the quiet living room. Roger looked daggers at Gregory as he recognized the blue broadcloth shirt as his own. The detective stood at attention, his bearing spoke of tragedy as much as the smudged mascara down Bette's cheeks.

Bette took Olivia's hand and folded it in hers as she sat on the coffee table. "I'm sorry we barged in on you like this, Ricardo found out at the hospital he didn't know Gregory had taken you home."

Roger leaned in to whisper for him alone. "You're lucky I care about Olivia more than I want to drag you back to the hospital."

"He was going to tell you, but Livie, I think you should hear this from me." Bette swallowed as she looked up at her best friend. Ricardo stood in the corner, too formal to have anything but the worst news.

Olivia was too tired to notice the warnings. Too consumed with relief to realize there was anything outside of having Gregory home that mattered.

"They found her in Mexico. She'd been shot in the back of the head. The Federales are shipping her body home to the SBPD. The Deschanel jewels were still in her backpack..."

Olivia's sharp cry ripped at Gregory's heart and he focused on the sensation. He wanted to protect her, even if he had no idea what from.

She tried to pull her hands back, but Bette held on. "Caitlin's dead Livie."

Pushing Bette away as hard as she could, Olivia clung to him, sliding over the edge into a torrent of emotion. Gregory accepted Bette's apology without knowing what she had said. He protected Olivia without asking why she couldn't speak anymore. He gestured Roger in close with his free hand, lowering his voice so no one heard.

"Why?" There were so many questions. Why was she in Mexico? What were the Deschanel jewels? Why did everyone look at him as if Caitlin had made a pact with the devil? What did the devil want?


	79. between the sheets

"She's really gone." Olivia whispered to Gregory as he tucked her into bed. "How can she be gone?"

He wasn't sure what do say. He sat down next to her, quiet for a moment as he tried to decide what he should do. What a husband was supposed to do. Gregory touched her shoulder, relieved when she reached for his hand.

"She's just a baby." Olivia clung to his hand. Finding it hard to watch the tears stream down her face, Gregory got into bed with her, wrapping his arms around her and trying to get to remember lying in his bed before. For a moment he remembered the taste of sweat on his lips as he kissed his way up her neck.

That sent a rush of heat up his spine that he definitely remembered. "I love you." Gregory replied finally, trusting it as the one thing he couldn't mess up.

"I almost lost you." She rolled awkwardly in the bed, resting her head against his. "I couldn't live without-"

Gregory couldn't bring himself to think about the daughter he didn't remember, or the terror of his own mortality. He would rather think about the baby that kicked against his hand. "You won't." He didn't know her but he was stricken with the urge to keep her from crying. "I'll be here. With you and the baby, as long as it takes."

Her kiss surprised him. The quiet, desperate need in it was unexpected. Olivia felt his hesitation and assumed he was thinking about Caitlin. "It wasn't your fault."

"Oh I know." His nonchalance worried her until she realized he was distracted. His fingers fanned out over her belly. "Caitlin got involved with the wrong man, got in too deep." What else had Roger told him to say? Gregory felt her leg run up over his calf. "I'd kill Cole again in a moment. In a heartbeat-"

Every second of Cole's death was as fresh in his mind as if it had happened just yesterday. The water had been cold when Cole stopped moving. Quiet when he finally choked and went still. He'd killed for her. He loved her enough to destroy another life to protect her. What kind of person was he? How could she look at him like he was her savior? When he remembered that longing to feel Cole's heart stop beating. That demonic fire within was terrifying in his memory. Terrifying but powerful, even enticing. He had that kind of power within him.

"I need you to be safe." Gregory explained as her hand cupped his face. "I can't let anyone hurt you. Anyone. I love you so much-"

Her tears were wet as brushed against his face with her cheek. "But you blame yourself, don't you? That's why you haven't said anything, why you haven't mentioned her name since it happened." Her memories were so upsetting, even in hindsight, that the color drained out of her face. She sat up against the headboard, looking over to the place on the carpet where she'd seen him struggle for life.

"I go through it in my mind, over and over. Caitlin loved you." She loved you. She used to wait at the doorway an hour before you came home. She'd sneak out of her bed to see you come home from business trips-" Olivia's voice cracked, leading the collapse of her internal reserve.

Gregory wished Roger and Bette had decided to stay. For an insane moment he almost wished he had stayed in the hospital because he was vastly unprepared to handle being alone with his wife. He loved her, he reminded himself as he reached into the top drawer for his handkerchief. He loved her enough to marry her and have two children. He loved her enough to stay with her for twenty years of fighting, of arguing and screaming at each other. He loved but he didn't remember why.

He didn't even remember fighting with her. Gregory was barely even sure what kissing her was like and she was carrying his baby. A baby, he'd lied and taken advantage of her to get. When he gave her the handkerchief, his hand went immediately to her belly. The baby wouldn't know that he didn't have any memories. The baby was a clean slate. The one person he could love without worrying that he'd let them down.

"It's going to be all right." He promised her, but Olivia believed him more than he did. How could he promise not to hurt her when he didn't even know what she wanted? What she dreamed about was as alien as how she took her coffee. Gregory wondered if he should tell her the truth, confess his fears and throw everything out into the open.

Olivia surprised him by kissing his cheek. She was so sweet and so very beautiful. She deserved to be remembered with every fiber of his being. "I know it's selfish of me. I should be thinking about Caitlin-" She sighed, guilt was heavy in her chest. "But it all comes back to you." Her hands went around his neck and he felt her pull him down towards the bed. "I need you so much right now. I think about Caitlin and it feels like my heart's stopped beating."

She shuddered as if she could feel the chill hand of death. "But I can't even think about losing you. My mind freezes up and the whole world stops around me."

He didn't realize he was crying. He'd been too distracted to feel the burning in his eyes that preceded the escaping tear from his left eye. "I'm here now." How could she depend on him so much? How could he be so important to anyone? Why didn't he just lead a normal life?

Gregory let her get comfortable before he lay down next to her. He knew he should be trying to remember Caitlin or what had happened to him but everything was a distraction. Had he picked up these sheets? Where had they found their headboard? He'd have to ask her someday, under better circumstances.

For right now, he enjoyed resting his arm around her chest. The way she held his hand made he feel necessary. As if he was so much more than just a creature of flesh and blood that shared her bed. He liked that too. "Olivia?" He wondered if she was asleep.

"Yes?" She murmured and snuggled a little closer. The sheets slid easily over her nightgown.

"I need your help, since you're not asleep."

Olivia half turned her head back towards him. "Do I have to get up?"

Gregory chuckled, relieved that she was admitting she was tired. "No. You don't even have to move."

"Then I'm all yours."

Pulling himself higher on his pillow, Gregory listened to the ocean outside his window as he tried to organize his thoughts. "I'm having some trouble with my memory."

"Trouble?" Olivia yawned, too tired to concerned. "Roger said you didn't remember what happened. Is there more than that?"

She rolled over to look at his face and Gregory forced himself to smile. Would be it be easier to confess everything now? He stroked her cheek and smiled again when it felt familiar. "A lot of things are a bit foggy. Nothing important. I just could use a little help jogging my memory."

She kissed him again as guilt ran cold into his stomach. "What do you want to remember?"

"Why'd we decide to have another baby? Were we worried about having an empty nest now that Sean's in college?" He thought it was an innocent enough question. The kind of little thing that might open the door for a host of other memories, but her face suggested something else entirely.

Olivia couldn't believe what he was asking. It was his idea to have another baby. He'd taken the initiative, he'd decided he wanted her back in his heart. Just like every other move in their marriage, their finding each other again was all his doing. "You decided darling. Your father was dying, and you were worried about not having anyone to pass on your legacy. Caitlin and Sean didn't want to get into business."

"Oh." It seemed simple enough. The thought of his father made anger boil in his stomach. Gregory would have loved to put him in the long list of things he couldn't remember. "Did we talk about it?"

Olivia laughed a little as she ran her fingers through his hair. "No, no, not at all. You started putting some kind of fertility drug in my food and it made me sick."

She continued to giggle as he sat up in surprise. "You're serious?" What kind of person did that to his wife?

"It seemed perfectly reasonable to you at the time." Olivia found the honest surprise at his own actions deeply amusing. "You even got mad at me when I followed your example and made myself really sick a few weeks later."

Gregory's mind brought him back to that night. Coming home exhausted, sneaking into his bedroom and kissing Alex. He wasn't supposed to kiss Alex. That was suddenly abundantly clear. No matter what he felt, he was supposed to kiss Olivia. Olivia was there at Alex's side. He took a guess. "Alex helped you."

Her precious smile told him he'd guessed correctly. Even sounded confidant enough to make her think he remembered it. "She wanted us to have a baby."

"I loved her." It slipped past his conscious mind and he tensed as he realized he'd said it out loud. Did Olivia hate Alex? Was Alex a sore spot between them?

"She loved you too." Olivia sighed and turned away from him. Not because she was upset, as he first feared, but because she wanted his arms back around her. "She was so good to you. Always there when you needed someone to share your troubles. When we weren't-"

Gregory couldn't remember sleeping with Alex any time in the last twenty years. He knew her from college, from law school. She must have come right before Olivia. She didn't want to get married. He remembered that fateful conversation on the beach.

"She wasn't the marrying type."

"Neither were you." Olivia's elbow hit his stomach playfully. "You were the most famous playboy of your year at Stanford law or are you going to pretend you don't remember being the center of all those batting eyelashes?"

Gregory sighed into her hair and wondered lazily if she'd let him wash it. Did they have that kind of relationship? Would she crawl into the bath with him? "Is it better for me if I do?"

"That was a long time ago and I can't argue with how handsome they found you."

He ran his hand over her belly, realizing he must have been madly smitten with her once to pick her over all the other women. "You were special."

"I was too shy to leave you. Too naive to be anything but completely enamored with you." She sounded like she was joking, but he read through it.

"I needed you. You were-" Gregory paused and tried to think of what he needed. His ideal woman must have been her. "Everything I wasn't. Sweet, beautiful and capable of so much more feeling than I was. You were perfect."

"I was perfect?" She teased as she toyed with the fingers of his hand. "What am I now?"

"My love."


	80. digging

Sean dropped his bag at his feet as he reached for his passport. His Italian was worse than pitiful and he shrugged at the customs officer. "Thanks." He offered gently as they handed it back to him with an indulgent smile. "Grazie" He remembered from the plane.

The officer smiled and waved him towards the beautiful glass doors leading to Rome. Sean lifted his pack to his back and grinned at the city. He felt more alive in a new place. The terrible numbness in his stomach was starting to cease, and for the first time in days, he felt hunger dig into his stomach.

He exchanged his money in a little bank on the corner. With lira he could buy food, and a train ticket to Florence. It didn't matter that he wasn't sure where he was going, or what he'd find. He just wanted answers. What power was it that bought and traded lives like things? What was his place in the circle of mysterious men that had asked him to kill his sister?

What darkness was inside of him?

-----------------

"Immigration said he took a flight from Los Angeles to Newark, then another plane to Rome. He's got his passport, all the money in his checking account, and a good head on his shoulders." Roger tipped back his coffee cup and sighed at the empty white bottom. "It's not going to be easy for either of them to hear, but, it's what he needs."

"It's not what his parents need." Bette shot back grimly. "I'm not telling Olivia her son is in Rome."

Roger grinned easily, reaching for her glittering hand. "Oh why not? He's with his family. It's not as if he's run off to join the foreign legion. Maybe he needed some time apart, some time to find himself. His family will take good care of him. He might even learn more about his roots. What drives Gregory."

Bette took a bite of her breakfast and shook her head. "Do we really want him to know anything about that?"

"Just because Olivia doesn't know, doesn't mean Sean can't. For reasons that are Gregory's alone, he hasn't told Olivia the truth about his family." Roger held up his hand and nodded to quiet her worries. "I know that bothers you."

"Of course it bothers me." Slamming her fork down to the table only made the china bounce angrily and did little for her temper. "If anyone should know better-"

"It's Gregory." Roger picked up the fallen vase of flowers and dropped his napkin on the spilled water running under the lacy tablecloth. "I know."

Folding her arms firmly, Bette left her chair and stared out the huge window over the quaint downtown skyline. "She's going to kill him when she finds out."

Running his hands over the pink paisley print of her robe, Roger nodded over her shoulder, "He'd deserve it."

Finding his hands on her shoulders, she wrapped her fingers in. "Are you keeping any secrets from me? Any dark contracts with the mafia I should know about?"

Laughing as he spun her around, he waited until he could see her eyes to answer. "I still have feelings for my ex-wife.

Bette fled from his arms to the table. Rescuing her coffee, she snuggled back in. She sighed and leaned back into his shoulder.

"My feelings for my exes would require a two hour special on Oprah."

Emboldened by his first admission, Roger kissed the back of her neck, just behind the hanging pendant of her earring. "I think I should have married you a few husbands ago. Although-" He paused thoughtfully. "There's something to be said for being the last man to marry little Bette Douglas."

Her eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Who says you'll be the last?"

"I do." He quieted her with a smile best suited to a Roman emperor. "I'm too good to follow up."

-----------------------------

AJ had certainly had his share of surprises lately. Caitlin attacking her father in cold blood was the stuff of high tragedy. Something he could only have planned better if Gregory had been good enough to die. His death would have made the whole situation just that much easier. In the event of Gregory's death, Olivia inherited half of Sunset Beach. Money and power she had no use for. She was carrying Gregory's bastard and she'd need all her strength for that. She wouldn't have time or energy to worry about the business side of things.

Her little circle of protectors was dwindling down. Sean had fled to Europe, apparently hoping to lose himself in the wilderness of Italy and God only knew when- AJ settled back into his chair and let the paper drop to the floor as he slipped into thought. Perhaps the Richards boy should meet with an accident. Wandering the continent alone could be a dangerous way to try and understand the death of a beloved sister.

Caitlin's death was another oddly shaped piece of the puzzle. Though the Sentinel put forth the reasonable explanation of Caitlin just being the wrong blond American falling on the wrong side of a drug cartel, AJ knew better. The quiet way everyone seemed in such hurry to write it off and move on. The way, according to his sources, Gregory was barely phased. Instead of mourning his daughter and demanding to see proof of her fate, he'd gone to bed with his wife.

Gregory didn't choose Olivia over Caitlin. He never had. He wouldn't have traded Caitlin's life for Olivia's safety. Olivia couldn't have even taken out a hit on his son. AJ doubted she even knew how to protect herself. Gregory was always turning up to save her. Pulling her bodily from the ocean when the deck collapsed was a nice touch.

Olivia was dependent on whatever man was most likely to protect her. First her father, whom she worshipped, then Roger who brought her to the states and found her the perfect husband. Of course, AJ only had himself to blame for being too young to see clearly what he was giving up when he moved on to Elaine, Morgan, Elizabetta, Susanna, Gloria, Lauren, Paige, Abigail- He couldn't remember after that.

Gregory's list was nearly as long, but he was the reformed playboy. He'd settled down. He'd found someone without the strength to leave him.

Perhaps that was the heart of AJ's resentment. That Gregory had succeeded, he was everything he promised to be. Brilliant lawyer, intuitive businessman, indulgent father and doting husband. AJ gave the photo of Gregory citing his "miraculous recovery" a scornful glance that threatened to send the paper up in smoke. He was manipulative, not brilliant. Grasping and desperately greedy in his business. He controlled his children with an iron fist and Olivia was drawn to him. Enraptured and trapped like a moth to the flame of a lantern.

AJ pulled the delicate silver bracelet from the breast pocket of his robe and grinned at it, as if it were Olivia herself. "A day will come when you won't even remember his name. I promise you that mon amour."


	81. to hell

"You didn't have to bring this all the way down here yourself Liv." Gregory looked up from his ever growing pile of legal briefs and smiled softly. "But I'm certainly not going to complain. Nothing brightens up my office quite like you my dear."

He sounded like Gregory. The smile was the same smile she'd fallen for all those years ago. It would be so easy to believe he was the same man she'd always loved. But something was different. Something was wrong and she was holding the proof in her hands.

"I just thought you'd like to look over the contractor reports from the hospital project. They have some new estimates-"

Gregory waved her off and emerged from behind his desk to take her into his arms. "Don't bother with that. Since you're all the way over here, let me take you to lunch."

"You don't have to do that. I'm sure you're busy." She made it easy for him to blow her off, but he pulled her closer.

Smiling down at the swell of her stomach between them, Gregory seemed absolutely content. "I'd love to have lunch with you. Work's still going to be there."

He didn't even bother looking at the contractor's fiscal projections before he reached for his wallet from the desk and ushered her towards the door. Olivia paused, biting her lip as everything started to fall into place. He hadn't shown any interest in Caitlin's funeral. He didn't even wear black until he noticed she wore it constantly.

He jumped at the chance to read every one of Sean's letters from Italy, and Gregory wrote back. Not crisp and efficient reports of his day, but slow, flowery phrases that were nearly poetic as she read them all before sealing the letters.

"Shouldn't we bring those with and go over them?" She reached back for his desk, but he caught her hand and pulled it up to kiss it.

"Why bother? You've already looked at them."

"Don't you want to go over them personally?" She raised her eyebrows in shock as he started to laugh gently.

"I trust you darling. Come on, let's go eat." Gregory held open the door of his office in the Federal Building.

Instead of leaving, she sank into the brown leather sofa along the wall and sighed in feigned exhaustion. "Can we just order in?"

He was immediately at her side, reaching down to remove her shoes and take her feet into his hands. "You all right?"

"Just a little too tired to navigate the crowd downtown." She couldn't admit that she hated to see him in public. He was too charming. Gregory had always been an excellent public figure, but now his smiles seemed heartfelt instead of carefully rehearsed. When he worried about her it was written all over his face.

"I'll ask one of the paralegals to call for us. What would you like?" Gregory's hands found the sore spots of her feet with the same practiced ease but he wouldn't have to ask her what she wanted. Gregory would suggest something and help her decide. He wouldn't leave that up to her.

"Oh- I don't know." Olivia closed her eyes against the rush of betrayal that attacked her whenever she looked at him. "Whatever you haven't had lately darling."

He kissed her forehead as he stood up, resting his hand for a moment on their unborn child through her blazer. "Don't go away."

"I won't," Olivia promised as she settled further into the sofa. As soon as the door shut behind him she jumped up to search his desk. Maybe there was a clue somewhere. His desk was neat, most of the papers were legal jumbles that only Gregory would care to navigate. She searched through the pile, looking for something- anything.

It was in the top drawer. A single sheet of paper torn from his imported stationary, the set she'd ordered for him last father's day. beneath the neat header, "From the desk of Gregory Richards, Esquire" were his notes. Not the neat formal handwriting he used for anything business, these were hurried pieces of consciousness, thoughts he had to capture before they escaped him again.

Liv. Florence. Lavender and lilies. We lost a baby. The back of the ambulance. Blood on my hands. Was it my fault? Never home. We fight. She cries. I never cry. Caitlin tried to kill me because I killed Cole. Why do I remember Cole? Why him and not-

"Olivia?" Gregory's return startled the crumpled paper out of her hands and down to the desk. "I ordered Thai, I hope that's all right." He watched the paper sail past the desk. As he picked it up he realized why all the color was gone from her face.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Olivia's empty hands fell to the desk for support. "What is that? Your cue card for your life?"

He hadn't heard that biting tone in her voice before. He instantly disliked it. Gregory decided to begin slowly. "I told you there were things I didn't remember."

"Caitlin?" That same bite. "She's just a thing now?" Her eyes flashed with fury but she fought it back. Olivia didn't want to fight him. She didn't have the endurance. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have looked in your desk. If you wanted me to know you would have told me."

He couldn't reach her. She was closed off. Colder than he'd ever seen her. "Olivia-"

"Sean's first step? Our first anniversary? Caitlin's high school graduation?" She shook her head when he didn't have anything to offer her. "No wonder Caitlin's death has barely registered with you. Do you even remember having a daughter? Do you remember how much you loved her?"

She pushed off the desk and gave him a wide berth on her way to the door. Olivia stared into his eyes and saw the emptiness there. It cut into her heart more than anything he could have said. "Maybe you don't remember forgiving me? Has this all been some sort of sick joke?"

He reached for her arm but she drew it back so quickly she struck her elbow against the wall behind her. "I love you Olivia. Let's have another baby. I'll protect you from Cole-" Her hands shook as she pulled her purse over her shoulder and reached for the door. "You killed a man for me but you can't find it in your heart to admit you don't remember me?"

"I didn't-"

She cut him off viciously. "No, darling, you didn't. And you won't." Olivia folded her arms across her chest, trying to ignore the angry tightening of her stomach and the way their child squirmed in desperate protest. "I don't want to see you. You'll have to find somewhere to stay." She refused to touch his hand. Instead her hand hovered over his until he gave in and moved his aside.

"Don't do this." He begged softly as she started to turn the knob. "Please."

"I didn't do 'this'." Olivia clarified with ice in her voice. "I didn't push Caitlin into the arms of a madman. I didn't put myself in the line of fire. I didn't lace my own food with fertility drugs and manipulate myself into falling in love with you all over again." Tears glinted in her eyelashes, but she ignored their presence.

"You stared death in the face, but you still don't trust me." The door creaked open and she straightened her purse before taking a step away from him. "I thought this was a new beginning for us but now it's just the same old tragedy. I'm just sorry our children had to be your victims."


	82. insomnia

"It's cold." Gregory offered as his first excuse. He sat easily in the chair near the window of the lavish penthouse apartment. "I know it's not really, but it seems cold without her."

Roger took a long sip of his coffee, his antidote to the exhaustion threatening to put a quick end to a necessary conversation. "You've been sharing her bed, on-and-off I suppose if you want to be technical, for twenty-two years. It can't be easy to be alone on the couch here." He grinned suddenly, unable to help himself. "Though it's not the first time she's kicked you out of bed."

Gregory turned morosely from the twinkling lights of the harbor. "It's the first time I remember."

"Ahhh," Roger closed his eyes and leaned back on the sofa. It was still made up neatly because Gregory hadn't even attempted to sleep on it tonight. "Hurts doesn't it?"

Gregory set down his brandy. Even the depressant affect of the alcohol wasn't enough to quiet his mind. "It shouldn't." He rested his head thoughtfully on his hand.

Roger studied the intricate moldings on the ceiling. "Why not?"

"Hmmm?"

"Why shouldn't it hurt?" Roger wondered as he tapped his fingers against his cup. "You love her."

"I don't remember loving her." The sting as he finished his brandy remained hot in his throat. "I don't remember anything about our life together."

"Doesn't mean you don't." Roger pointed out as he rolled off the sofa to raid the kitchen. "Want anything?"

Gregory shook his head glumly, but followed as Roger dug through his refrigerator. "You think I'm in love with her."

Roger pulled boxes of leftovers out of the fridge and lined them up on the counter. From the dull look each of them got as he opened them to check the contents, Gregory guessed none of them were appealing. He didn't care much for food lately. He thought about Olivia while he ate. He couldn't help wondering what she was eating. If she was taking care of herself. If the baby had moved today.

Opening a square container of Chinese food, Roger poked it and licked sauce from his fingertip as he counted back the days since he had ordered it. Only three. It was fair game. He dropped the line of other boxes into the trash.

Gregory raised an eyebrow but said nothing as he moved out of the way.

"Bette doesn't eat leftovers. And if I don't want any of them now, I'm not going to get around to eating them." Roger dug out a beautiful cut glass bowl and unceremoniously dumped the his Chinese food. Stray pieces of dry rice bounced against the sides as he stuffed it into the microwave.

"You could just order in something." Gregory suggested in an attempt to be helpful.

Roger tapped the clock on the microwave. "Three in the bloody am. No one delivers now. No one's open now in Sunset Beach and I'm not driving halfway to Santa Barbara when I have perfectly good three-day-old Dar Cheen chicken to eat." He opened the drawer for a fork and pointed towards the fridge. "Fetch me the hot sauce would you?"

Gregory obidently found the hot sauce from rows of condiments inside the door. He set it on the counter next to the microwave and watched as Roger took out his snack, stirred it, liberally coated it with orange hot sauce and stuffed it back in the microwave. "Have to get it while you can, don't you?"

"Bette won't kiss me when I've been eating habeneros. Says it burns her lipstick off." With a pleasant ding, the microwave announced it was finished. Roger freed his steaming bowl and retreated back to the comfort of the living room. He flopped down on the couch and took a deep sniff with relish.

"But you don't have to worry about that tonight." Gregory finished as he sat back down quietly next to his empty brandy sniffer.

"The boy and his spitfire girlfriend are up the shore this weekend to go rock climbing. I think we're all agreed that we don't want Olivia to stay in that big old house alone." Roger licked hot sauce from his fork and felt it burn into the soft tissues of his mouth. He smiled wickedly at Gregory and leaned in to share a secret. "I think I'll be losing a son and gaining a daughter before too long now."

"Everyone's reached the age for weddings." Gregory mused as he refilled the sniffer with amber brandy. "I saw your invitation to Casey's wedding came yesterday."

"January's a time we always avoid for weddings in the old country, but I suppose here in the land of eternal sunshine it'll be just fine." Roger nudged his coffee cup towards Gregory. "Put a little nosh in my coffee, won't you?"

"I thought you were trying to stay awake." Gregory teased as he added a splash of brandy to the proffered mug.

"Keep going-" Roger ordered when Gregory moved to restopper the bottle. "I've decided that if I'm going to be up I'd rather enjoy it in a state of drunken bliss than be mercilessly aware of how late it is."

Gregory poured until the liquid threatened to overwhelm the brim of Roger's cup. The doctor set down his nearly empty bowl and dropped to the floor to sip it down a little. "Perfect. Now, tell me why you DON'T think you're in love. I want to shoot it all down."

Gregory rolled his eyes. "If you're so brilliant, you should tell me why I am."

"Touche-" Roger mimed a stabbing motion to his chest. "All right. You think about her all the time. You look up from whatever you're doing whenever Bette or I mention her name. Or any other word that could possibly sound like her name. You come up with excuses to stop by Liberty during the day. You call Ethan twice a night to ask how she's doing. The mornings when Olivia lets you walk Belle you're actually when you leave. You're happy when you come back if you even catch a glimpse of her." He took the brandy and refreshed the sniffer Gregory had quickly emptied.

"Should I go on?"

"You're dying too, aren't you?" Gregory knew the glint in Roger's eyes. The satisfaction of being absolutely correct was written all over his friend's face.

"I am actually." Roger winked and took a deep breath. "It's smashing of you to let me."

"Get it over with."

"Olivia's the light of your life." Roger finished simply. "Even if you don't have the foggiest who she is, she's in every part of your being. Having her gone is worse than losing your mind. You've lost your heart."

"I seem to remember being told I don't have one." Gregory reached for the brandy again and swished the bottom of the bottle around. It was nearly empty.

Roger pointed out the window and up the shore towards number One Ocean Avenue. "You're heart's down there." He took the bottle and clinked it against Gregory's glass. "Here's to you winning her back."

"I want you to know this is the closest I've been to a shirtless man since you kicked Gregory out." Bette pointed to the open magazine on the coffee table and sighed as she licked chocolate ice cream from her spoon. "I swear I don't know how you two managed to even get pregnant with the kids around. How'd you find a second to yourselves? Every time I turn around Gregory's there and Livingston and I can't do whatever it was we were thinking of doing."

She stuck her spoon back into her pint of ice cream and sighed heavily. "Not that you even heard any of what I'm saying."

Olivia looked back from the window out to the ocean. Bette was entirely correct. She hadn't heard a word of it. The baby, Gregory's legacy, turned slowly beneath her hand. Even their child wasn't sleeping well since she'd kicked his father out of the mansion. It was too quiet without him. Too still. When she woke up, she was alone. When she slept, she was alone. It wasn't right. Too much of Gregory was in the house. But Bette couldn't understand that.

"I'm sorry." Her apology was weak and as halfhearted as everything she'd been doing since he was gone.

Bette patted her hand and snuggled down next to her on the couch. "It's all right Livie. God knows I've crashed on your doorstep a couple of times when I an ex-husband or two."

"Gregory's not an 'ex'," Olivia corrected immediately. "Nor is he going to be."

Bette caught the way her voice cracked. She'd seen this before. The tempestuous love-hate relationship that her best friend had settled into after years of self-destruction. A small voice in the back of her mind argued that maybe this was it. The brief moment of happiness for Gregory and Olivia was already over and worst of all, their new baby was going to be born into the wreckage of what could have been a beautiful family.

She strangled that voice before it could sound too convincing. "He wants you back."

"He doesn't bloody know who I am!" Olivia snapped as she left the couch. "How can he want me back?"

"He loves you." Bette continued to her back, watching as Olivia's hands planted themselves angrily on her hips. "You're all he talks about. You and the baby. Every single time Roger comes over here to see how you're doing he won't leave him alone until he has a full report on everything. He worries about your blood pressure, mopes sympathetically when Roger tells him your back hurts." She paused to melt a lump of ice cream with her tongue and swallow it quickly.

"I wasn't suppose to mention this." Bette began slowly. "Roger thought it would just make you upset."

"Little chance of doing that now." Olivia crossed her arms tightly over her chest and tried to ignore the way she wanted Gregory's arms around her instead.

"He misses the ultrasound photos." Bette's spoon scraped against the wall of the nearly empty ice cream container. "Don't get me wrong Livie, he understands why you won't go back in the hospital, but it doesn't mean he doesn't miss seeing the baby."

"Well isn't that sweet." Bitterness dripped from Olivia's voice, but Bette just shook her head. She didn't buy any of it. "He remembers that it's his baby."

"Livie-" Bette licked her spoon spotless and set it down on the coffee table. "I hate to be the one to remind you, but Gregory's gaps in his memory, his little stint as the English Patient, it's not his fault." She shivered as she remembered watching Roger try to shock life back into Gregory's body. "He was very nearly killed."

"Caitlin-" Olivia shuddered and turned back from the window. "Caitlin tried to kill him. Our own daughter." A tear slid numbly down her cheek. "She loved him so much once and God, I always thought he loved her more than anyone in the world."

"Gregory killed the man she loved." Bette rested her hands on her shoulders for a second before reaching up to take care of that tear. "Gregory had a choice Livie. He choose you and the baby."

"What if that was wrong?" Olivia's chin trembled and Bette could see the overload of emotions behind her calm. "He shouldn't have had to choose between me and our daughter."

Bette caught her chin tightly. "You didn't ask him too! You and Gregory did everything you could for Caitlin after Cole died. She's the one who didn't tell you she loved him. She's the one who went along with the charade and let Cole pretend to be AJ's son. She's the one who tried to kill Gregory."

"Bette-" Olivia shook her head and just stared at her.

"He could have stopped her." Bette continued because she knew she had too. "I know you don't want to hear it-"

Olivia pulled away and kept shaking her head. "Then why do you insist on talking about it?"

"Because you haven't talked about it. You haven't talked to me. You haven't talked to Roger, and you're not talking to Gregory-"

"Would you just shut up about Gregory!"

Bette jumped back, putting her hands up in defense as Olivia whirled around with fire in her eyes.

"I'm sick to death of hearing about Gregory. I don't care if he miraculously survived. I don't care if he's the best damn lawyer to ever walk the face of the Earth." Her breath shuddered through her chest. "He remembers you. He remembers Sean. He remembers how to win his bloody cases, but he doesn't remember me." "Bette he doesn't remember anything about me! He's supposed to be my husband first." Her last admission took all the energy she had. Bette could barely hear her through her tears as Olivia finished. "I need him."

"Hey- hey Livie." Bette wrapped her arms tightly around her friend the dam on Olivia's emotions finally broke open. "It's all right." She led them both back to the sofa and let her cry into her shoulder. "I want you to listen to me."

She stroked Olivia's head, surprised when the right words seemed to be on the tip of her tongue. "It was wrong of Gregory to lie to you. He should have told you the moment he woke up that his memory was all scrambled up."

Olivia wiped vainly at her tears and nodded weakly. "He should have been honest with me."

"Honey sometimes it's hardest to be honest with the people we love." Bette cupped her chin and turned to dig up a handkerchief out of her purse. "You might have to face the fact that he was afraid he was going to lose you."

Olivia opened her mouth to protest, but Bette hushed her with a finger over her lips. "Ah-ah, even Greggy-Poo occasionally succumbs to being human. He worries about losing you just as much as you worry about losing him."

"I find that rather hard to believe." Olivia argued petulantly as she sniffed away some of her tears.

"He loves you. He does nothing but mope without you. He can't stop talking about you. His head might be few candles short of a Christmas tree-" Bette patted her own chest for emphasis. "But his heart's in the right place. Gregory might not know what he's feeling, but you can bet that giant diamond he gave you that it's love."

"But what am I supposed to do with that?" Reeling on the edge of hysterics, Olivia crumpled up the handkerchief she had just been using until her fingers went white.

"What can you do with that?" Bette laughed, putting a hand over her mouth when she realized how inappropriate. She slapped Olivia's shoulder lightly . "How many times have you came to me and wished Gregory felt as bonkers about you as you do about him? Constantly, that's what."

Looking past Olivia's shoulder at a picture of the Gregory and Olivia smiling at the camera, Bette realized the perfect irony of the situation. "You've both been wanting to start over. Put all of the past behind you. Now you can. For once in your marriage you can trust that Gregory loves you with all his heart. Not for what you were once, but for who you are now."

"Livie," Bette dropped her hands dramatically to her lap. "What more could you want? You have to take him back."

Olivia sighed heavily, closing her eyes for a moment and wishing her head was clear enough to tell her what to do. "I want him too. God Bette, it's all I can think about. I can't do this without him. The house is too quiet. My bed's impossible to sleep in. I don't feel safe shutting the lights off by myself. And there's-" She dropped her hands to her belly helplessly. "I can't bring this baby into the world on my own. He's Gregory's son. He's what he wanted. He's the reason we're back together in the first place."

"Good reasons." Bette hugged her tightly, trying to squeeze some life back into her. "You missed the most important one however."

"Oh?"

"Having Gregory stay in our apartment has absolutely murdered my sex life."


	83. old paper

Just getting to see her was a victory. Catching a glimpse of her through the window to their bedroom, or hearing her voice when he put Belle inside after their walk. He wanted her back. There was no getting around that now. He'd taken to staying at the office as late as possible, trying to give Bette and Roger the time alone without having to admit that he needed to find an apartment.

Gregory didn't want an apartment. He wanted to go home. The nagging idea of her being alone in the house plagued him. He sat on the beach and watched the lights of her car bring her home from work. He waited in the mornings, hoping to see her leaving the house on the way to the office. Actually seeing her at the office was too much. Olivia couldn't meet his eyes, she'd look away, or even worse, pretend she didn't see him at all.

Bette was reaching the breaking point. He'd come home quietly one evening and caught the end of an argument raging through the penthouse.

"What do you expect them to do? Just jump back into their marriage like nothing has happened?" Roger baited as he slammed something down hard on the table.

"It's not as if we're talking about Cinderella and Prince Charming here-" Bette's skirt swished and he pictured her pacing in front of the table. "Livie and Greggie have fought like cats and dogs since they met. What's different now?"

"She doesn't trust him." Roger began with a sigh. "Olivia realized she could lose him,"

"That's it isn't it?" Bette sank into the couch with a hiss of epiphany. "Livie never saw him as human before. She worshipped him, he was infallible."

The clink of glass and the splash of liquid. "He's Gregory bloody Richards. He was most likely to succeed when we were in grammar school together."

Gregory smiled softly to himself. 'Gregory bloody Richards' indeed.

"He could have anything." Bette acknowledged. "God, he nearly does, it's just that now, now he wants her-"

"And she doesn't know what to do."

"Not that I blame her. He knocked her up and tried to get himself killed. What's he going to do for an encore? Run for president and declare war on France?"

"Invade Russia in winter." Roger equipped playfully as Gregory heard the rustling of fabric between them. "He never could hold on to Russia when we played Risk together."

"No on can-" Bette stopped and kissed his cheek to shut him up. "I'm not arguing board games with you."

Roger left the couch to fetch the wine from the table. "You were arguing Richardses with me."

"Maybe I don't want to fight."

"Well now-" The voices stopped for a moment. "That's something else entirely..."

Gregory could picture the satisfied look on Roger's face and decided that discretion was the better part of friendship. At least for the moment. He could find something to do at Liberty. It was late enough that Olivia would be home. More than anything else he longed to go home. To hear her in the other room and know everything was right with the world when he went to bed beside her.

She was the only one he slept next to. He remembered affairs, the mixture of lust and loneliness that drove him other women. Younger women, powerful women, unattainable women. Anyone who wouldn't ask for his love. Was it so strange that now she had it? Sean said it had taken him years to believe his parents loved each other at all. When he knew who she was he couldn't let himself love her, and now it was all he could do not storm into his living room and demand she take him back.

Drag every last story out of her until he knew what had happened. Why having another child had meant so much to him and what had happened with Caitlin? Who was Caitlin?

Olivia couldn't handle having a funeral for her. Sean was out of the country. Gregory had picked up her ashes at the Argentinean embassy. She was a beautiful woman in the photograph he kept in his wallet. Young and terribly beautiful, too gentle to do what Sean said she had done. Too young to put her mother in harm's way.

The office was blissfully empty. Even so, Gregory couldn't help stopping in front of her door. His old office. Sometimes he was tempted to sign it all away. Leave Liberty in her capable hands and retire to just being a lawyer. Hell, give it all up and just be a father. Would he be a good father? He couldn't help wondering if father's were supposed to remember everything perfectly.

Not that would be a problem for the baby. He remembered every moment since he woke up in the hospital with perfect clarity. This baby would have the best life he could give it, no matter what he had to do. He'd already proven that. He'd let his daughter nearly destroy him to protect Olivia and the baby. The baby- their baby- he deserved a father. A father who knew why he loved his mother.

Switching on just the lamp over the desk, Gregory settled into his chair and closed his eyes for a moment. This office had been his home longer than his house it seemed. In his old life, he lived here, thrived on the stress of corporate life because he couldn't find himself at home. Now all he wanted was to go home. To open the door and see Olivia smile at him.

Gregory allowed himself the fantasy of kissing her cheek and pulling her into his arms. He had until the baby came to earn his way back. That was his deadline and he seemed like the kind of man who lived by deadlines. He could do it.

The knock on his office door surprised him out of dreams of Olivia's perfume rubbing off as he caressed her neck.

"Hey, didn't want to startle you, I was just going to leave this on your desk." Casey shrugged and held up a box. "Guess it's not much fun to go home when you can't."

Gregory grinned wryly and gestured to the desk. "Sometimes a good startling is good for me." He turned in his chair to get a better look at the younger man and the large cardboard box in his hands. "Just what are you leaving on my desk?"

Approaching tentatively, Casey held out the carton as a talisman. "I found them when I was going through my mother's things. She was obsessed with traveling light, but somehow she still kept a stash of stuff in a storage locker. Tons of it. I thought- with what happened- you might want these."

Their fingers touched for a moment as Casey handed over mysterious box. Gregory couldn't remember the last time he had touched anyone. "What are they?" Opening the lid, he looked down at the first envelope and recognized the handwriting as his own.

"They're yours, sort of." Casey thrust his empty hands into his pockets. "You wrote them to my mother. There's years of them, she saved them all."

"That's amazing." He remembered Alex's smile as one of the brightest points of his life. In the fog of his memories, Alex Mitchum glowed. "Are you sure you want to give them away?"

"I couldn't read them-" Casey started to blush as he fidgeted with his hands. "I mean, I started too, I read the first one, but-" You wrote them, and you should have them."

Reverently lifting the first letter, Gregory tried to place the smell of old paper and spices. From the postmark this letter had gone to India at one point. He wondered if it had been lovingly tucked into Alex's backpack as she wandered the far east. "Don't worry about it." He looked at the date and tried to remember what was happening in his life at that time. He couldn't place it.

The first line of his letter gave it away, "I'm going to owe you that bottle of wine after all. I've met the most beautiful creature I've ever seen, and she won't even speak to me." Olivia, when their relationship was new, barely more than an exchange of a few scattered words. Gregory kept reading, unable to tear himself away from the hopes of himself as a young man.

"Well, I'll be off then." Casey turned to go, ready to leave without so much as thanks.

Gregory set the letter comfortably on the desk and circled it slightly. Stopping at a safe distance by the corner, he wracked his brain. "I still have your mother's replies. If you'd like to read them."

He knew what that kind of brightness meant in the eyes of a young man. Gregory saved Casey the trouble of speaking. "They're at the house. in my study. There's a carton above the bookshelf, all it has to mark it is a sticker she sent me from Kiribati's one airport."

"I'll find it." Casey promised softly. He swallowed something painful and made himself smile. "She'd be the first one to tell you you'll get it all back."

Gregory picked up his old letter again, smiling as the feeling of the paper promised to shine some light on the corners of his mind. "Thank you. For everything. Especially the way you keep an eye on Olivia. I know we both appreciate it."

Casey ran a hand through his short blonde hair and tried to look nonchalant. "It's nice to have someone to look after."

"It is, isn't it?" Gregory wondered as he dove back into his letter. Someone to care for. A reason to smile in the morning. He missed that.

Her name is Olivia Blake. She's an acquaintance of that sister of Del's, the one who's on her third husband already. By the looks of it, this marriage might not make it either. I should be able to convince Del to introduce us, provided he doesn't think he should have the rights to her. I think she's the type of woman who, as you so delicately put it, wants to live in a greenhouse and be showered with affection. I know I'm terrible with plants, but for her, Alex, for her I'd make an exception.

"One child from each household, from each generation, belongs to the greater family. This child has responsibilities outside of their immediate family, sometimes they are small." Don Tribuno Ricciardi settled back into his velvet chair as if it were a throne. "Sometimes they can be very great." He gestured around his study with a monarch's reflective smile.

"As are the rewards." Sean offered as he stared down at his brandy. He'd never drank it before. It was leaving a heat in his stomach he was entirely unused to. The wealth of the Ricciardi house hadn't been lost on him. Even his guest room was gloriously furnished in the kinds of things he had learned to associate with power as he grow up in Sunset Beach's leading family. "It's not me, is it?"

Tribuno's perfect white teeth gleamed in the weak light of his study. "No son, it's not you. Your father told me you want to be a doctor."

"I want to save lives.' Sean finished his brandy quickly, realizing the burning in his throat did calm the guilt threatening to overrun his defenses. "I let you kill my sister."

"You took revenge. It was your right." Tribuno refilled Sean's glass, but betrayed nothing in his face.

"I took her life." Sean stared morosely down at the rich amber liquid. "I can't do that again."

The velvet and ebony chair creaked as Tribuno left it in favor of an ancient book lying open on a silk drapery tossed meticulously over the stand. "You won't be asked too." He turned a few pages and stopped on the most recent page of the family line. "Your place has been left up to you. As long as you take care of your family, we will have no reason to ask more of you."

"But you said-" Sean took his glass with him as he glanced down at the ancient pages of names.

"One child in a generation. One child of each house." Tribuno nodded in respect to name of his father. "My father, Tiziano, his bother, Nicolo-" He paused and corrected himself with a trace of sadness. "Nicholas. He tried to keep Gregorio from his family. Keep his son away from the only people who could protect him. The only people who could make sure he had the proper respect."

"My father serves the family." Sean continued as he followed Tribuno's finger on the page. His father's name was inscribed neatly. Gregory Alan Richards. His mother's was beside it. The names to the right were painfully too familiar. Caitlin Richards. His hand shook as he finished his brandy again. "But if I'm not required too, and my sister is-"

Tribuno tapped the empty page just beneath Sean's name. "You are not the end of your family line. Your brother-"

"He's not even born yet." Arguing with this king, in the heart of his castle, was definitely not somehting he should be doing. Sean couldn't help himself. "He's not even due until March."

The heavy hand on his shoulder was oddly comforting. There was a softness in this man's eyes that Sean never saw in his father. What had Nicholas taken away from his father? Where was this kindness? "We all have certain responsibilities we are born too. And some we assume as we grow. Your brother will lead an extraordinary life. He will see and do great things."

"He'll be a killer." Sean shuddered and tried to pull away, but the stranger pulled him into a hug. The kind of hug his father couldn't give him when he was growing up.

"What is greater than protecting those we love?" Tribuno whispered over the storm in Sean's heart. "What life could be more rewarding than that?"


	84. Bombardier 1175

It didn't feel like Christmas. Caitlin was- Olivia still had trouble thinking it. Caitlin was dead. Her daughter. Her baby girl was dead. That only left Sean. No parent was supposed to outlive a child, let alone two children. She didn't even know how Caitlin had died. If she had suffered, if she'd been afraid or alone. She didn't know any of it.

Olivia shuddered and closed her eyes against the headache that heralded a new flood of tears. She couldn't deal with that right now. Not with Gregory and Sean gone. Not when the house was full of loneliness. She had to pack. She had to put on a brave face for Sean. He'd be there in England. Away from the memories that she couldn't escape.

Reaching for a suit, she stopped and put it back. This was a vacation, a holiday. She didn't have to be Gregory's business partner. Just thinking about Gregory brought the tears back up again. Her legs hurt, her head pounded, and everything felt hot. Straightening against the soreness building in her lower back, Olivia wrote it all off as exhaustion. She couldn't sleep. After Bette left in the wee hours of the morning, she wandered the house, waiting for sleep that never came. When her eyes closed they only opened again.

The darkness held no peace, only accusatory voices. Gregory asking her if Cole had hurt her. Sean wondering where Caitlin was. Why she hadn't come home. Caitlin berating her for letting herself get pregnant. Was it wrong? Was this baby doomed to a life of pain and suffering, before he was even born? Were the last two months of her pregnancy the only time this child would know any happiness?

What would his life be like? Would Gregory ever remember what he'd lost or would he raise this baby with a blank slate. Sharing this baby's first with her as a stranger to him? A stranger who was carrying his child, who'd shared his bed for nearly a month before she even knew. Was that why she was so angry? Because it had been so easy for him to pretend nothing was wrong? Or because she didn't know? He'd shared so little of himself through the years that she didn't even know when he was confused.

She didn't see when he'd stumbled for answers to events that shouldn't have raised a question.

Olivia dropped her robe into her suitcase and shut it. Whatever was in there was going to have to do. Two weeks away sounded like heaven. Maybe she could stretch it out another week, stay away from Gregory's office, away from him-

But she couldn't stay away. His absence was why she couldn't sleep. Amnesia or not, without him their bed was as hostile as the rest of the world. The one place that should have been her sanctuary was ruined. She had defiled it when she told Gregory to leave. She'd broken the her promise to love him, no matter what darkness came.

Her hands were shaking when the driver came up to collect her things. He was used to being ignored and paid well enough not to ask her about the tear on her cheek.

"The airstrip then?" Tim asked politely as he picked up the last bag from the floor of the bedroom.

"Yes Tim. Thank you." Olivia shut off the light in her bedroom and watched the shadows claim the bed. Maybe she wouldn't have to come back to it alone.

Sean sighed and broke free of Connie's third hug. Mom's were universal.

"Grazie, grazie." His Italian was weak but they understood his gratitude. His cousins waved and smiled cheerfully as the chauffeur tipped his hat and picked up Sean's bags.

"Now you give our love to your parents, and tell Gregorio to be good to la vostra madre. She loves him." Connie kissed his cheek and ruffled his hair. "You look so much like Gregorio. So handsome."

Sean wondered if she knew of his father's amnesia. He had no doubt that his uncle knew everything about the damage to Gregory's memory. What was it about powerful men that they kept such secrets from the people they loved?

He waved one more time and got into the car. Sighing as he settled into the expensive upholstery, Sean closed his eyes. He'd be face to face with his family again. He'd have to sit around the table and stare at Caitlin's empty chair and know he was the one who had made sure she'd never sit in it again.

"It's not fair of you to blame yourself. Sometimes the choices that others make force us to do things we'd rather avoid. Say things we wouldn't say." Tribuno Ricciardi leaned back on the seat next to him and signaled the driver to depart.

"You make it sound so simple. She was my sister. She was all I had when my parents-" Sean paused, unwilling to betray his parents.

"I know they had trouble." Tribuno finished steadily. He reached into his pocket and pulled out an old photograph. "This is your grandfather, Niccolo, on his wedding day."

Sean took the picture, relieved to lose himself into the past. He'd never seen his grandfather before. The man was a stranger. The woman next to him, prim and quiet in her high-necked white gown, looked familiar.

"Her name was Alice. She was a very sweet, young American woman who was smitten with Niccolo's charm and wit. The family loved her, and from what I know, she was a good woman." Tribuno eased into his story with practiced poise. It was a tale he knew nearly as well as himself. "Niccolo was the second son, the fifth child born to your great-grandparents. My father, Marciano, was the older son. From a young age, my father knew he was going to run the family someday. He accepted it. It was his birthright."

"Niccolo seemed to accept it as well. He was going to go to America and find his own place in the world." Tribuno took the picture back and studied Niccolo's face with disdain. "But then something changed. Niccolo's resentment boiled over. He could no longer be in the same room with my father-"

Sean watched his face darken. He could picture that kind of brooding anger. He knew it in his own father. At least, the way his father used to be. Gregory was quiet lately, more contemplative.

"One day they had a fight , I still remember the screaming, the slamming of doors-" Tribuno shook his head slowly. "Niccolo, he spits on his father, tells him he make a new life for himself in America." Tribuno grabbed his shoulder, and Sean felt the heavy gold rings on his fingers. "Your father and I should have grown up together- like brothers, instead I have to chase him down. Hunt for him across the world until I was finally able to bring him home."

Sean reached up and touched the heavy signet ring on his uncle's hand. "Give him the family he never had."

"Niccolo-" Tribuno gazed skyward apologetically. "The he is still my blood, he was never a good father. He hated your father for everything, punished him for crimes Niccolo himself had commited in his youth. Your father didn't grow up with love, honor- respect- the things a child must learn above all else. He grew up with pain. then in his life, he finds only pain. Because that's what he knows."

"He loved mom once." Sean added as he looked out the window at the trees passing by as the road edged the cliff. "I think- I know- he loves her now."

"She opens the locked places in his heart, when he was here, I've never seem him happier." her and the unborn child."

"My brother." Sean smiled, feeling a little embarrassed as he tried not to think about how his mother got pregnant. One peek at his parents through the kitchen window had been enough. "He's their future isn't he?"

"I don't think they would have made it through the loss of your sister without that kind of blessing." He tucked a heavy silver watch into the inner pocket of his vest. "We all need hope. It's the worst thing you can take from a person, the last thing we lose before we lose ourselves. Always keep your hope around you Sean."

"They all have what?" Gregory tried not to slam down the phone. "You're telling me every pilot available has been exposed to the flu?"

He waited and listened to the dispatcher. "I'd agree. If they were all at the same meeting, and three of them have already gotten sick." He ran his hand anxiously through his hair. "No, no, I'm entirely comfortable flying the plane myself." He settled onto the desk and thought about the trip from California to Manchester. If he did a layover in Iceland, with the assistance of the autopilot it would be all right.

"Of course I'd feel better with a backup. I just can't risk exposing my wife to anything." He mentally crossed off 'hire a pilot' from his list of things to do. He'd just have to make do. "No, no she's fine."

He sighed and realized he'd have to contest ever saying anything if it ever came back to haunt him. "I'm rather protective of her." The dispatcher's reply made him pause.

"Overprotective wouldn't be much of a stretch." He waited, relieved he was alone in his office. "I suppose that's true. When you have another baby late enough in life, it's like a first one all over again. Everything's different. Even the way you feel about it. I remember being terrified when Olivia was pregnant the first time."

Gregory stopped dead as the dispatcher related an anecdote of his own experiences with early fatherhood. He remembered being terrified. He remembered the cold knot of fear that he could never live up to what a parent should do. That he'd never be good enough.

"Yes- it is funny, isn't it?" He replied politely, but his mind was already years away. He remembered caressing Olivia's belly and talking to his daughter.

Caitlin. His daughter's name was Caitlin.

He was the last person she expected to reach down and help her up the steps to the plane, but then again, Gregory had made a life out of surprising people.

"I thought I was flying with Bette." Olivia ventured softly, trying to keep the conversation neutral. She was too tired to get into an argument with him. She wouldn't stand a chance if he pushed her to forgive him.

Gregory looked around secretively before raising an eyebrow. "She left with Roger this morning, something about the mile-high club and I- wisely I think- stopped listening." He waited for her to smile back before leaving her alone in the cabin as he walked up front.

Olivia settled into the couch lining the side of the plane and waited nervously for him to come back. What was she supposed to say? What was he going to ask? How could she get through the simplest of questions without losing her fragile grip on her emotions?

The hatch thudded closed and nearly immediately the stairs she'd used to get up to the plane were removed. She listened for the pilot's voice, expecting the familiar jocular bass of Joe Murray. Instead, Gregory cleared his throat and she looked up to see him smiling at her patiently from the door to the c0ckpit.

"I'm starting the engines now. Unless you need anything."

Olivia wasn't quite sure if she'd heard him correctly. "You are? Where's the pilot?" She got up with effort and took a few steps towards him.

Gregory laughed slightly and left the door open as he settled into his chair. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to get a pilot willing to fly to Machester this close to Christmas?"

She held onto the edge of the doorway and watched as his hands flew over the complicated console in front of him. "But it's only the seventeenth."

Gregory slipped on his headset and indicated the seat next to him. "This is a complicated plane. Not to mention expensive. I wasn't just going to let anyone behind the controls." The engines started to whine and he held up the headset on the panel. "If you want to talk, put this on, sit down and buckle up. If you'd rather not, please go back and sit down so I don't have to worry about you."

She debated for a moment before she took the headset and sat down next to him. "You've never let me sit up front before."

Gregory put his hand on the throttle and grinned. "Must be getting soft in my old age." He flicked a switch and radioed to the tower.

"This is Bombardier one-one-seven-five-R to tower, requesting permission for take off."

Olivia heard the voice of the controller respond in the earpiece and couldn't help returning a little of his smile.

"Your flight plan is in order Bombardier one-one-seven-five-R, and you're cleared for runway three. Have a safe trip. Iceland is expecting you."

"Iceland?" Olivia wondered softly.

"We have to refuel." Gregory explained as he started to taxi towards the runway. "We won't be there long."

"I see." Her quiet whisper was lost in the roar of the engine as he started to increase speed.

He brought the throttle back, and kept himself from jumping as her hand closed over his.

"Thank you." Olivia whispered into the headset. "I really did miss you." The engines exploded forward and the plane began to race down the runway. Olivia tried to look down over the nose of the plane for a moment but the thought of the ground hurtling by didn't do anything good for her stomach.

Gregory pointed down towards the end of the runway. "Concentrate on that." He suggested over the rush of the wind.

Obediently, she glanced down towards the flashing lights at the end of the runway. She was still watching them when the plane leaned back, pressing her into the seat in a way that made her back protest immediately. She reminded herself that it was only going to be for a few moments.

Gregory's thumb caressed the back of her hand. "I'll level off as soon as I can." He promised through the headset.

She shut her eyes, missing the clouds as the broke over the plane, and the way all of Sunset Beach faded into a perfect golden crescent beneath them. She was alone with him in the plane. No pilot, no crew. Just the two of them and five thousand miles of land and ocean in front of them.

The engine noise died away to a dull roar. The pressure in her back eased in time with the correction of her ears to the pressure change. Gregory's hand moved beneath hers. He slipped it free almost apologetically and eased the plane into a cruising altitude. "41,000 feet." He promised as she heard the gentle beep that acknowledged the autopilot coming on. "Not too bad for the your first time as a co-pilot." He teased with a wink as he removed his headset and settled back comfortably in his chair.

Olivia opened her eyes tentatively. The sun was setting quickly into the clouds behind them and the cabin was bright with warm golden light. She removed the headset and turned to him with the tiniest of smiles. "You didn't let me push any of the buttons."

Gregory widened his eyes in mock astonishment. "I didn't! What was I thinking." He looked over the board for a moment indicating one with his hand. "You can turn that left until you hear a click."

"Which one?" She asked mischeviously, knowing full well which one he was driving at. She started for the wrong dial, and instantly, his hand was around hers, guiding it to the proper place.

"This one." Gregory corrected softly as he played with the soft skin of her hand. "Just like that."

"Click." Olivia echoed playfully as the dial stopped. "What did I just do?"

"Set the autopilot to call for me if the wind or temperature changes."

"Sounds important." Olivia mimicked his slow smile.

"It is." He explained as he released his seat belt. "If the weather changes I have to change our course. Keep us clear of anything nasty."

"Too bad we all don't have an autopilot."

"We might miss things." Gregory replied, startling her. Olivia didn't believe he'd heard her. "I know what it's like to have gaps in your memory. To wonder what your life was like and be unable to answer your own questions."

Olivia looked quickly away, trying to prevent him from seeing the tears in her eyes. "And I pushed you away."

"No-" He lead her to the sofa lining the wall and knelt down in front of her. "You kept yourself safe. That's what you needed to do. Sometimes you need to put yourself first Liv, and I'm proud of you."

Being sweet only made her tears more insistent. "How can you be proud of me? The one time you need me, when I should be helping you remember your life, I just got angry with you."

"I should have been honest with you the moment I woke up in the hospital." Gregory stopped her second-guessing as firmly as he could. "I just didn't know how to tell you. I was confused. I think a million things when I look at you."

"Imagine lying next to a complete stranger and knowing, beyond reason that you love her. Your life has meaning when she smiles." He reached up to brush her cheeks dry. "I'm not really sure what that meaning is, but I know-" He kissed her hand. "It begins and ends with you."


	85. radio

"Gregory-" She opened her eyes slowly as stretched her way out of her nap. The sharp pain in her side was the baby, beating up her diaphragm. Olivia blinked as the hum of the engine cut through. She was on a plane. With Gregory.

His hand found hers over her belly, sharing the sensation with her. "Must be hard to sleep through." He teased gently. "I remember, when you were pregnant with Sean- how you used to wake me up when it was bad. So I could talk some sense into him."

"You remember that?" She yawned slightly and propped her head up on her arm. "I thought-"

"I remember Sean." Gregory explained as he smiled gently. "I remember how afraid you were to tell me you were pregnant again. How afraid I was that something would happen. I remember taking you to see him for the first time." His face was dangerously close. "How you cried."

"I couldn't believe he was all right. There was so much blood when he was born. So much pain-"

"Shhh-" Gregory softened the memory as his hand rubbed her belly. "It's all right. I remember that. You don't have to tell me. It's all right. I remember Sean and law school, playing cards until three am with Roger and Del and nearly loosing my first car." He liked hearing her laugh.

"It's just Caitlin-" He sighed and let her take his hand. "To be honest, you and Caitlin that I have trouble with. As if someone tried to erase every mention of her from my mind and did a messy job of it."

"What did that neurologist say?" Olivia asked as she sat up slowly. Gregory rested his head on her knee, keeping his position on the floor. "The specialist they sent you to? Did he have any news?"

"In other words, is my head completely scrambled? Who's Gregory Richards and where has he gone?" He laughed softly and slid his head over to rest against her belly.

He was counting on her for comfort. For safety, for a reason to go on living. Olivia buried her hands in his hair and held him close. As if he could share his parent's concern, the baby kicked harder, drawing a sharp gasp of surprise from his mother.

"Did you feel that? He's going to be a fighter."

Gregory sat back for a moment, holding his jaw as if the baby had kicked him on purpose. "He's already is. Our little baby's hung on through a lot."

"He's going to make it." Olivia lifted his chin and stared him down. "We've come so far already, it's nearly Christmas. If there's anything worth remembering darling-" She wrinkled her noise playfully and nodded. "It's Christmas."

"I love Christmas." He jumped up to check the flight controls, kissing her forehead as he headed up to the pilot's chair. "At least-" He settled in jauntily, keeping his feet over the edge of the chair as he called back to her. "I like to think I do."

Olivia followed him slowly up, surprising herself with her unwillingness to be away from him. She kept her hand over the spot on the side of her ribcage, as if that could somehow stop the painful exercise her youngest child seemed intent on continuing.

Gregory gave her his hand and swung his feet around. "Here- you wanted to push buttons before. Want to fly the plane?"

"You're not serious?" Her head went back as she laughed.

Nodding earnestly, he pulled her forward as he crept behind the chair and made way. "This isn't an official lesson or anything, but it is a good thing to know how to do. Besides, you're going to have to teach him someday-"

He moved her hand from her belly to the throttle. "I probably won't have the patience."

"You did wonderfully when you taught Caitlin how to drive." Copying his movements, she put back on the headset and looked over the mess of gently glowing readouts.

Gregory sat down and secretively did up his seat-belt. Reaching over with a smirk, he clicked off the autopilot and took the secondary throttle. "I'll take your word for it."

The readouts stayed green for a few moments and then one, heading, started to turn yellow, then orange. The plane titled to the left. Gregory looked at his wife and waited for her to figure it out.

"Darling-"

"You can do it." He insisted as the plane banked further off course. "Just turn it back. Like driving a car, except the ditch is a little further away."

"I only put the car in the ditch once." Olivia pointed out as she over adjusted and sent the plane skittering to the right instead. "And it was icy."

The notion teased his memory. The fog parted a little and provided him with the momentary sensation of being soaking wet, freezing and completely and utterly amused. "On the way to Ithaca for that week. You wanted to drive because I 'always drove' and the weather was so nice when we left the airport."

"Sean and Caitlin were asleep in the back seat." Olivia reminded him as she straightened out the nose and the plane ceased feeling like it was teetering on the edge of the sky.

"Like this?" She interrupted her story to check.

"Perfect." Sitting back in his chair, Gregory folded his arms over his chest and grinned wickedly. "I don't remember them being there."

"They slept through the whole thing darling-" Olivia giggled in old amusement. "The fight we had in the middle of the road."

"The way I shoved you into the hood when we started to make up." Icy rainwater was a terrible aphrodiasiac, but kissing her and wanting to kill her didn't have to be mutually exclusive. He could have both.

"I had to have the car towed." That memory sprang up more strongly then the rest. Annoyance, frustration, that resentment that boiled inside of him no matter what he did.

"-In the morning, because I wouldn't let you walk to town alone." Olivia teased the plane a little too quickly away from list to the right and Gregory took the steering on his side and helped her flatten it out.

"You slept in my arms." He wasn't even watching the controls anymore. The plane didn't matter. He could fly with nothing when she looked at him like that.

"I was cold." Olivia winced as her unborn baby strained against her muscles. "We put our coats over the children."

"You belonged there." He clicked the autopilot back on and took her hands away from the throttle. "You still belong there."

Her throat was tight. "Do I?"

Gregory's hand crept all the way up to her chin. "God yes. I don't know where I've been, especially since I got a little lost along the way-"

Trying to look away, Olivia found his gaze too insistent. He had been nearly lost forever. Caitlin had tried to kill him. His life hung over the abyss and she'd almost gone with him. She wanted to turn away, to get away from the truth in his eyes. His hand was too strong.

"Hey-" His thumb caught the tear on her eyelashes. "All I know, is that the rest of my journey is by your side. Where ever fate leads us we're going together." All she could do was shake her head.

"Okay?"

The smile was difficult to begin. It had been so long since she'd wanted to smile. It was almost as if she'd forgotten how. What else had she'd forgotten? Kissing? Laughing?

Gregory cupped her cheek. His fingers found the back of her head, cradling her neck. He was so close that he felt the motion of her lips before he even heard her reply.

"Okay."

The control panel chimed suddenly, driving them apart in surprise. Groaning in disappointment, Gregory slipped out of his chair and waited behind the pilot's for her to move.

"What is that?" Olivia wondered softly as he dropped neatly into the pilot's seat.

"England." He pointed at the touch screen on the lower left. "See that yellow triangle? That's East Chesterfield's private airstrip. We could be down in half an hour, Sean's going to be along to pick us up."

"Sean?"

Gregory stole a look away from his instruments. Her voice was off slightly. "You sound surprised."

"He was so angry when he left." Olivia buckled her seat belt and her hands fell softly into her lap. "He wouldn't talk to me."

"He doesn't blame us." Gregory put up his hand to quiet her as he radioed the tower. "ECM this is Bombardier-one-one-seven-five-R requesting a landing vector, over."

Turning to her just slightly, Gregory mouthed 'Trust me.' Before giving his attention fully over to landing the plane.

Slipping the headset over her ears, Olivia caught the end of the tower explaining the slippery patches on the runway. Reaching over to his elbow, she snuck her hand in the crook of his arm.


	86. hush

The first thing she noticed was the smell. The way the soft scent of clean sheets gave way to the spicier scent of cologne. Gregory trailed his hand lazily down her shoulder, coaxing her out of her dream.

"It's snowing." He whispered close enough to her ear to tickle the sensitive skin.

Sighing as she rolled towards him, Olivia felt him curl into bed next to her.

"Come outside with me." Gregory begged as she slowly let her eyes open. "Remind me what it feels like."

"Cold." Olivia replied curtly as she closed her eyes again. "Snow's cold darling."

He nuzzled her neck on the way up to her chin before he kissed her stubbornly awake. "Please. I'm missing so much-" Gregory watched her smile fade sadly. "I know we used to walk through the snow together."

"At night, when my father was sleeping." Olivia sat up slowly and dredged up her memories of young love. "You loved the way it caught in my hair."

Gregory left the bed for the borrowed dresser and started to pull out some of his clothes. "Did you bring anything for the weather?"

Giggling slightly as she yawned and crawled out of the warmth of the blankets, Olivia nodded as she pulled heavy wollen pants on over her pajamas. "I lived here once. Remember?"

The playful jibe was meant to make him smile but Gregory stopped buttoning his shirt and stared at her with haunted eyes. "Maybe someday."

Olivia reached out across the corner of the bed to take his hand. "I am sorry darling. For everything, I just-"

"You weren't wrong to be angry." He found his comfort in the coolness of her skin. "You're carrying our baby, and all the weight in this marriage I don't even know who I-"

She circled the bed and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck. "I know who you are." Their silence dance was peace for them both. "Maybe I've been too hard on you."

Gregory chuckled as he buttoned a heavy shirt across his chest. "At least you've been telling the truth. I am the one who didn't see fit to tell you about the holes in my mind."

Olivia's lips pouted sympathetically as she reached around him. The roundness of her belly brushed against him and Gregory found his hands drawn to it. The smile that edged out her concern was far more flattering.

"He's been actively lately, but slightly more considerate of my ribs." Olivia leaned into his hands, feeling the warmth of his touch on the taunt skin of her belly. "Was that your doing?"

"I talked some sense into him." Gregory teased as he pulled her closer.

Tilting her head up to kiss his chin, Olivia closed her eyes and gave in. The midnight stubble tickled her lips. "I knew there was something I liked about you."

Gregory's sincerity melted the chill in her fingers. "I think I love everything about you." His hands chasing up towards her chest made it nearly impossible to concentrate on what he wanted her to do. "Come on. I want you to see the snow."

"I've seen snow before." Olivia tongue darted out across her lips.

"Not this snow." Gregory's eyebrows danced above his smile. "It's new. Just started a few hours ago." His heart soared when she laughed. He could still make her laugh.

"I have a memory of Christmas." He lead her down the narrow back staircase into the kitchen. "Big fat flakes of snow in your hair, trees laden with snow all around us. It was here- I think." His proud smile softened.

"I can't say when it was." Gentle fingers brushed her chin as he paused at the foot of the stairs. "I don't think you were in your current condition."

Olivia's hands circled her belly protectively for a moment before drifting to her back. "Sometimes I wish I wasn't." She clarified, "Only when my back hurts." Inhaling softly, she shared his smile. "I'm fine darling. Tell me what you remember."

"Mostly these." His thumb traced her lips thoughtfully, he suddenly looked away. "You were so beautiful. I couldn't believe you were real. That I could possibly be here, with you."

"You told me," Olivia tied her scarf around her neck. "I didn't believe in magic Liv, not until now. Right now, here." She stopped with her hand on the door knob. "It was the sweetest thing-"

His feet crunched on the walk. "You fell for that?"

Olivia's breath hung in a cloud in front of her as she laughed. "It was the way you said it. Your eyes glittered like a little boy's on Christmas morning. No one had ever looked at me like that. I'd never felt quite-"

His hands slipped around her and stopped them on the crest of a hill. Shivering deliciously, Olivia leaned back into his chest. "Like that." She finished as she closed her eyes. "You can hear the snow."

Gregory followed suit, feeling the rushing of his blood match the hurried snow. Maybe it was wrong to be so close to her. He couldn't think. His body remembered enough to make his mind unimportant. Did it matter what parts made up love as long as it was hot and real in his chest?

The curling edge of her hair snuck out from beneath her hat. He buried his nose in it. Filling his nostrils with the warm smell of her instead of the cold of winter.

"I hear you."

Laughter blended with the hush around them. "You didn't need to drag me out here to hear that. You could have heard me in bed."

He dug his chin into her shoulder. "Maybe I'm hoping I still can."

Olivia patted his hands, drawing them tighter around her. "Oh really?"

He could hear her eyebrows go up. Gregory circled her, wanting to watch the snow fall between them. "I've been a good boy all year."

The way he managed to say it with a straight face set her off. Tears came to her eyes as Olivia struggled to get her breath back. "According to whom?"

He shrugged and caught a fat flake of snow with his tongue. "Just what I remember."

"Oh." Olivia caught his shoulders for balance and pulled up to kiss him. "I think you're wonderful."

Gregory had been prepared for her to tease him but the softness in her eyes stung. "Not nearly enough."

"You're afraid?" His honesty made her breath catch in her throat.

"Every moment." Tilting his head back to the dark sky, Gregory sighed patiently.

Her hands hung at her sides. "Afraid of what? You're never-"

"Maybe I never was." Correcting her felt familiar. He knew the tone in his throat. "Maybe I never had reason to be before, but, God, I am now. I wake up in the morning and wonder if this is it. If I'll never remember the rest of my life." He favored her with a thoughtful smile. "And when you were-"

Olivia opened her mouth, but he hushed her with a shake of his head. Reaching down to bring up a handful of soft snow, Gregory stared down at it against his black gloves. "You spend your whole life accumulating memories. All of them unique and beautiful-" He blew the snow off his hands with a single swift breath. "And then they're just gone."

She kissed the tip of his nose. "I doubt it was a poof like that."

"Kind of felt like it." His hands stayed on her shoulders. The words he couldn't think of would have been strangled in his throat anyway.

"I love you." Olivia had all the answers. Her gloved fingers teased across his early morning stubble. "And that's something special at this time of the morning."

"I'll make you hot chocolate." He pretend for a moment to have forgotten his obligation. His right to announce his own affections. Throwing open his arms to the heavens, he shouted into the night. "I love you!"

Startled, Olivia lost her balance, falling back into the deep drift of snow.

Gregory threw himself down beside her, as giddy as a child. His fingertips caressed her cheek as if it were a fragile icicle. "I love you."

Forgetting the pain in her back and the chill of snow melting down the back of her neck, Olivia's heart warmed her entire body. Gregory pulled himself up to help her to her feet. With her in his arms he was steady, even solid.

Without her he would have run crazily around the house. Danced in the snow, drifted on the wind. The purest feeling of joy for life had been gone so long that it was a revolution. Seriousness, rational thought, control- all of them overthrown in the twinkle of her smiling eyes.

They tumbled laughing back into the house. He knelt to remove her boots and found the hidden beauty of her ankles. Giggling as she fled his grasp, Olivia's trail of winter clothing lead him to the parlor. Beyond the darkness of the kitchen, it took a moment for his eyes to adjust.

The tree exploded in a thousand tiny pinpricks of light when Olivia flicked the switch to on. Glistening like the trees outside, it showered light down over the pile of wrapped packages. Gregory nudged one with his stockinged foot. "Have you been good this year?"

Sinking into the heavy brocade sofa, Olivia closed her eyes for a moment. "On who's terms? I think you're a little biased."

He watched her hide a yawn behind her hand. Gregory choose the floor at her feet. He rested his chin on her knee and smiled up at her. "Time for me to take you back to bed?"

Olivia dug her fingers into his hair. "Only if you're coming with me."

Jumping to his feet, Gregory reached down to her shoulders. "What are we waiting for?" His face split into a smile as she started to laugh.

"If that's all you wanted, we could have stayed in bed." Olivia let him pull her to her feet.

He wrapped his hands around hers and shared in her innuendo. "I wanted-" Her cheek was incredibly soft. "I needed time with you."

Her forehead narrowed in confusion. "We didn't say anything important."

Gregory stared through her eyes, cutting down to her soul. "We didn't need too." His fingertips raced down her back. "You feel it, don't you?"

"Yes." Her whisper seemed to come out of his dreams and he let her lead the way back to bed.


End file.
